252 NYROCA MARILA 



Landing and Point Brule in October (Seton, 1911), but it does not seem to be very abundant about 

 Fort Chipewyan or the Athabasca delta. Preble (1908) speaks of seeing "several" at the former 

 place in May, but Mr. Harper (MS.) saw only two in the region about the delta in spring. Seton 

 (1911) reports seeing it along the Athabasca. In Yukon Territory at Carcross (lat. 60°) there is no 

 evidence that they remain to breed, although the Lesser is a common breeder there (A. Brooks, in litt.). 



There has been much disagreement as to its status as a breeder in British Columbia. Fannin (fide 

 J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909) says they nest east of the coast range, and Kermode (1904) notes that 

 British they breed in the interior. Yet Major Brooks, who can certainly be regarded as an 



Columbia authority for this region, told me, and later repeated the remark in print (1920) that he 

 did not believe that any breed there. He has never seen any in summer, excepting a few crippled (?) 

 birds, in the part of the province which he has explored. 



It is, I think, very doubtful whether any of the southern records refer to this Scaup, but I note here 

 some evidence, which it seems to me must be further verified. 



In Alberta, Spreadborough (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909) found the species breeding to the west of 

 ... Edmonton. C. B. Horsbrugh (1915) considers it a very common nester near Buffalo 



Lake. Mr. A. Wolfe thinks that near Edmonton this species is a rather uncommon 

 nesting bird, though the Lesser Scaup breeds there in great abundance. J. and J. M. Macoun (1909) 

 Saskatch- found nests at Crane Lake, southwestern Saskatchewan, and Raine (1892) at Rush 

 ewan Lake. Farther to the north Buchanan (1920) met with the species during May on the 



Big River, Crooked Lake, Beaver River and He a la Crosse Lake, but found no nests. According to 

 w , . . R. MacFarlane (1908) it breeds at Cumberland House. In Manitoba but few breed 



(E. E. Thompson, 1891) though there are records for Shoal Lake and several localities 

 in the south (U.S. Biological Survey) as well as for Lake Winnipegosis (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909). 

 On the west side of Lake Manitoba Dunlop (1915) found it the commonest breeding duck. (But is it 

 certain that this was the Greater and not the Lesser Scaup?) The species may nest along the basin of 

 the Nelson River to the coast of Hudson Bay although this is not a good duck country. On August 22 

 Preble (1902) saw a large flock on the coast between Fort and Cape Churchill. Such summering 

 flocks are, of course, no evidence of breeding. 



Farther eastward it is only a sporadic breeder. There are records of its having nested at St. Clair 

 Flats (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909) and also of its occurrence in summer at various points in the St. 

 ~ . Lawrence basin (Cooke, 1906). It has, however, been several times found breeding on 



the Magdalen Islands (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909; Job, 1901), and once in northern 

 New Brunswick (Philipp and Bowdish, 1917, p. 265); but Mr. Bowdish writes me that the parent 

 bird was only a sight record. On a later visit to the Magdalens (1922) Mr. Job told me that he 

 found no evidence of Scaup nesting there. There are isolated summer records for Nova Scotia, Prince 

 Edward Island, Anticosti and Newfoundland (U.S. Biological Survey). Northward a few breed about 

 James Bay (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909; Bryant, Museum of Comparative Zoology specimen) and 

 small numbers spend the summer in northwestern Labrador (C. W. Townsend and Allen, 1907). For 

 the east coast of Labrador there are few records: one for Nain (Bigelow, 1902) and one of two young 

 males taken at Ticoralak in October (Cooke, 1906). 



In the United States there are sporadic records of breeding at Billings, Montana (Big Lake) (U.S. 

 Biological Survey); Minneapolis and Fergus Falls, Minnesota (Hatch, 1892; Cooke, 1906); Turtle 

 United Mts., North Dakota (U.S. Biological Survey); Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin (Coon, 



States 1895); Clear Lake, Iowa (Cooke, 1906); and even Mount Vernon, Virginia (Richmond, 



1888) ! A few non-breeding Scaup spend the summer here and there on the coast of Quebec, New 

 Brunswick and New England. I once shot two out of three males at South Orleans, Massachusetts, 

 in August, the only mid-summer record for the State so far as I remember. A breeding record for 

 Scaups (species?) in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, is scarcely important for the wild- 

 fowl there are in a semi-domestic state and no actual identification was reported. 



