SCAUP DUCK 251 



on the breast, just as with the Lesser Scaup. However, I have not enough material to settle this point 

 for males of all the diving ducks are hard to obtain in full eclipse stages. 



Young in Down (Plate 62): Much darker-colored both above and below than the young of the 

 European Pochard, the Red-head or the Canvas-back. It is also much darker on the face and upper 

 breast than the downy young of the Ferruginous Duck, as well as being larger. It is not so easily 

 distinguished from the young Tufted Duck (Nyroca fuligula) which is even blacker than the young 

 of the present species, especially on the sides of the head and neck. General color very dark brown 

 above and yellowish buff below, darker on the breast and lower abdomen. The top of the head is dark 

 brown but there is some indication of a supra-orbital light area, and a post-orbital darker streak. 

 There may also be a faint dark streak lower down on the cheeks. 



A very young female, partly in down, from Nome, Alaska, August 21, has the breast and flanks 

 gray, fading to pure white on the abdomen. The upper parts, except the scapulars, are still in down 

 and the primaries have not yet started. Even the occiput is still downy. The throat and cheeks are 

 brownish gray with a post-orbital white spot. 



DISTRIBUTION 



The range of the Scaup Duck is a very extended one, including the greater part of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. It is difficult to define because the birds commonly seek out inaccessible and far northern 

 regions for breeding and because in America the Lesser Scaup is so often confused with it. The dis- 

 tribution of the sexes in winter is peculiar and does not seem to depend entirely on latitude. Vast 

 numbers of Scaup do not breed, and like the Scoters may be found almost anywhere in summer. 

 Thus the actual breeding limits are always uncertain until a nest is discovered. 



Breeding Range 



In North America in summer the Scaup is found chiefly in Alaska and north-central Canada, breed- 

 ing records for the United States being only sporadic or based on incomplete evidence. Off Alaska, 

 L. M. Turner (1886), A. H. Clark (1911) and Bent (1912) found it on the Aleutians, 

 especially on Agattu and Atka, but there is no evidence that it breeds there. Evermann America 

 (1913) has recorded a specimen taken in late April on St. Paul's Island in the Pribilov 

 group. On the mainland Nelson (1887) found it common all over, extending from the Alaska 

 mouth of the Yukon north to Kotzebue Sound, and Dall and Bannister (1867) also Aleutians 

 found it breeding at the mouth of the Yukon. It is common also as a breeder at Hooper 

 Bay a little farther south (H. B. Conover, in lift.). F. S. Hersey (1917) describes it as a common nest- 

 ing bird at St. Michael's. On the peninsula of Alaska it is also a common breeder particularly at the 

 western end and on the south side at Stepovak Bay (Gianini, 1917). Osgood (U.S. Biological Survey) 

 met with the species at Cook Inlet in August, and J. Grinnell (1900) has recorded its breeding on the 

 Kowak River. Farther south, Beck (fide Sanford collection) found it nesting at Cape Nome. Dall 

 and Bannister (1867), Brandt (1891) and Willett (1914) have all described it as common about Sitka 

 in summer, but it is doubtful if any breed there. 



In northwestern Canada the species seems to extend throughout the whole MacKenzie basin. 

 R. MacFarlane (1908) says it is rare at Fort Anderson and on the MacKenzie, though it breeds there, 

 and Stefansson (1913) met with it to the east of the MacKenzie delta. But the species Northern 

 is certainly not common north of Great Slave Lake. Preble (1908) met with it near Canada 

 Fort Rae, where it was breeding, and saw others on an island in Great Slave Lake. Baird, Brewer 

 and Ridgway (1884) also state that it has been found nesting at Fort Rae and on Big Island, and the 

 maps of the U.S. Biological Survey mark Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution as nesting localities. 

 Cooke (1906) includes Fort Reliance in the summer range. Southward the species was seen near Smith 



