SCAUP DUCK 267 



day. The same great flocks are seen along the coast of Connecticut. Even as far 

 north as Geneva, New York, 600 have been seen in mid-winter, and in southern 

 Nova Scotia bunches up to 300 or 400. Huge bodies winter off the mouth of the Con- 

 necticut River, in parts of Long Island Sound, the Great South Bay, and on the 

 coasts of New Jersey and Delaware. 



Over the interior, in such States as Minnesota and Michigan, it is very difficult to 

 get an idea of the proportions of Greater to Lesser Scaup. Barrows (1912) says that 

 in Michigan, presumably on autumn migration, nine out of ten Blue-bills are of the 

 Lesser species and only one of the Greater. But both Blue-bills together ranked 

 higher in numbers than anv other duck in Minnesota in 1919. 



On the Pacific coast the center of abundance is the coast of British Columbia and 

 Washington. W. L. Dawson and Bowles (1909) speak of having seen rafts of 5000 

 to 10,000 on Puget Sound. 



In Alberta, in the breeding season, it was said by C. B. Horsbrugh (1915) to be 

 second only to the Mallard in numbers, and Mr. Mershon writes me about the same 

 locality that there are still great numbers to be seen there on migration, though less 

 than there were thirty or forty years ago. He says the same about Michigan. 



It appears to be oidy a very rare breeding bird about Edmonton and over all of 

 southern Canada and curiously enough, it is comparatively rare on the Athabasca 

 delta, where the Lesser Scaup was the commonest duck (Harper, MS.). Farther 

 north, all along the MacKenzie valley, it does not seem to be anywhere plentiful, but 

 when we reach the Yukon delta, and the warmer breeding grounds of western Alaska, 

 it is again a very abundant nester, at St. Michael's the third most abundant duck 

 (F. S. Hersey, 1917). 



To sum up I think we are a long way yet from mapping the exact status of this 

 duck, particularly on its breeding area. 



The tremendous numbers of Scaup nesting in Iceland have already been discussed 

 in another connection. Great numbers of these birds spend the winter on the coasts 

 of the British Isles. Thousands are at times seen on some of the favorite estuaries on 

 the north coast of Ireland and the east coast of Scotland and England. Equally 

 large numbers pass the cold months on the Baltic coasts. 



Mr. Kuroda writes me that the Scaup winters all the way from Saghalin Island 

 to Formosa and Korea, and that it is very abundant in Tokyo and Mikawa Bays in 

 Hondo, and in Hakata Bay in North Kiusiu. 



Exemies. The Skua Gulls are perhaps the most destructive enemies of this and 

 other species in Iceland, where they prey on the young (Millais, 1913). The Com- 

 mon Crow is probably most destructive to the eggs in our own Northwest. An 

 enemy perhaps not often suspected is the common Goose-fish (Lophius piscatorius) . 

 Dr. H. B. Bigelow tells me that at Hatteras Beach, North Carolina, he found the 



