266 NYROCA MARILA 



weeks. When alarmed the female flutters off a short distance, continuing to utter a 

 hoarse br-rah; the young respond with a fine Icrkr. There is a great and unaccount- 

 able mortality among the young. Hantzsch (1905) says they could not have died of 

 hunger, as their stomachs were filled with a considerable amount of vegetation, 

 especially small narrow leaves, in addition to many small stones. In his opinion cold 

 or parasites must have caused death. 



It is interesting to note that in Iceland the males seem to rejoin the flocks in early 

 September, after which the reunited families resort to the coast, but they leave it for 

 good in late October (Hantzsch, 1905). This is rather extraordinary in view of the 

 inequality in the numbers of the sexes and ages both during migration and on the 

 winter quarters. 



Status. Any exact estimate of the status of this Scaup in America is quite im- 

 possible at the present time, because in the records of shooting-clubs, State Com- 

 missioners, and individual sportsmen, the Greater and the Lesser Scaup are usually 

 lumped together under one heading. It is, however, still an extremely abundant 

 species on migration and in winter on the North Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as 

 on many of the greater lakes. I should say that a much smaller proportion of them 

 are killed than of Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Ducks, Red-heads or Canvas-backs. The 

 fact that they do not migrate particularly early and that they remain for the most 

 part well to the north gives them the advantage of a short shooting season, in some 

 places not more than a month to six weeks. Then again, the species has never been 

 pursued persistently in waters such as the North Atlantic coast where there are 

 no valuable species to be had. Where they happen to be mixed with Red-heads or 

 Canvas-backs, as they are from Chesapeake Bay to Pamlico, they have to take the 

 same punishment as their more desirable relatives. Their breeding grounds, so far 

 as we can see, will always be fairly undisturbed, which is an important point in their 

 favor. I can think of only one serious menace to the Scaup at the present time, and 

 that is the constantly increasing pollution of our bays and harbors by the waste oil 

 pumped from the tanks of oil-burning steamers or leaking from stationary tanks on 

 shore. 



On the whole the diving ducks have responded less well to increased protection 

 than the surface-feeders, and this is especially true of the Red-head, Lesser Scaup 

 and the present species. 



An idea of the enormous numbers of Greater Scaup which winter even along the 

 most thickly settled parts of the New England coast may be obtained by any one 

 who takes the trouble to visit the outer harbors of some of our large cities from late 

 November to early April. In the little bay at Lynn, Massachusetts, there are usually 

 from 1800 to 2500, sometimes up to 3000 or 4000; in Boston Harbor well over 3000; 

 while at Warwick, Rhode Island, as many as 6000 to 10,000 have been counted in a 



