276 NYROCA AFFINIS 



Nevertheless, a few winter, at least up to January, as far north as the central New York lakes and 

 Atlantic near Detroit (Eaton, 1910; Eddy and Easton, 1917; and others) and southern New 



Coast England (G. M. Allen, 1909; et al.). In New Jersey it is somewhat more common (W. 



Stone, 1909) and a few are said to winter in Pennsylvania also (B. H. Warren, 1890). In Delaware 

 (Rhoads and Pennock, 1905) and in Maryland (Kirkwood, 1895) it is fairly abundant, and the same 

 is true of Virginia (Rives, 1890; Smyth, 1912). With North Carolina its center of abundance may be 

 said to begin (T. G. Pearson, C. S. and H. H. Brimley, 1919). Thenee southward through South 

 Carolina (Wayne, 1910), Georgia, and the whole of Florida (F. M. Chapman, 1888; Scott, 1892; 

 Cory, 1896; R. W. Williams, 1904; Pangburn, 1919; etc.) it is one of the commonest ducks, in fact in 

 many regions by far the commonest. 



The range also includes many of the islands, namely, the Bahamas (Bonhote, 1903; Riley, 1905) 

 and to a less extent Cuba (Gundlach, 1875; V. J. Rodriguez, 1917), Jamaica (March, 1864), Porto 

 Bahamas Rico (Gundlach, 1874; Wetmore, 1916), St. Thomas, St. Croix, Virgin Gorda, Domin- 

 Antilles ica, Santa Lucia, Tobago and Trinidad (U.S. Biological Survey; Cooke, 1906; F. M. 



Chapman, 1894). 



In Mexico the Lesser Scaup probably winters everywhere in suitable localities. In Lower Cali- 

 fornia it has been found at San Raimundo, Magdalena Bay, and San Jose (Brewster, 1902; U.S. Bio- 

 .. . logical Survey), and at other places in the Gulf of California, and in Mexico pro- 



per at Mazatlan and San Bias (G. N. Lawrence, 1874; H. H. Bailey, 1906), Zacatecas 

 (Richardson, British Museum), Orizaba (Sumichrast, 1881), Puebla (Ferrari-Perez, 1886) and 

 Central commonly at Lake Chapala (Beebe, 1905). G. N. Lawrence (1869) has recorded it from 



America Progreso, Yucatan, and von Frantzius met with it at San Antonio, Costa Rica (G. N. 



Lawrence, 1868-69). Salvin found it quite common on Lake Duenas and saw others at Lake Atitlan, 

 Guatemala (P. L. Sclater and Salvin, 1859, 1876). In Panama it is abundant on Gatun Lake 

 „ . (Jewel, 1913; W. Stone, 1918) and has been taken also at Castillo and Veraguas 



(Salvin, 1870). Recently a specimen has been recorded from La Carolina, Ecuador 

 (Lonnberg and Rendahl, 1922). 



A specimen of this species is recorded as having been taken at Katwyk, South Holland, on Decem- 

 _, ber 21, 1859 (Koller, 1888) but I cannot help thinking that this was merely an abnor- 



mally small example of the Greater Scaup. 



Migration 



Tiiebe is nothing particularly characteristic about the migration of this species, at least so far as we 

 know at the present time. The regular migration range, of course, includes most of the United States, 

 especially the interior, for this species is much more of an inland bird than its relative. At a good 

 many inland points they seem to be much commoner in the spring than in the autumn. For instance, 

 at the Kennicott Gun Club in eastern Colorado during thirteen years' shooting, 63% of the total bag 

 was made in the spring, and only 37% in the autumn, in spite of a longer shooting season (Bergtold, 

 1924). 



Like most far-northern breeding ducks, it is rather late in departing in the spring. The great ma- 

 jority leave the wintering grounds in March and pass over the United States during the same month, 

 reaching southern Canada in April and the far-northern breeding areas in May. In the autumn they 

 stay north until the waters freeze. They pass over the United States during October and reach the 

 wintering grounds late in the same month or early in November. Their autumn appearance in New 

 England is more regular, I think, than that of any other duck; that is, they may be looked for with 

 certainty between the 8th and 12th of October. The spring migration probably follows the inland 

 water-ways more closely than the autumn flight. This seems to be true of the Atlantic as well as the 

 Pacific coast. North and east of New England the Little Blue-bill is only a very rare autumn migrant, 

 apparently absent in the regions about the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



