LESSER SCAUP DUCK 279 



Daily Movements. These ducks do not differ in great measure from the 

 Greater Scaups in their feeding and flighting periods except that as a rule their 

 habitat makes them much more independent of the tide. They feed freely at night, 

 a fact attested to by various observers; still I should call them day-feeders in the 

 main. Like other ducks they are far less active through the noon hours. I have 

 always noticed that these Scaups while in full migration seldom appear on our 

 Massachusetts ponds early in the morning. Quite regularly they arrive between 

 eight and ten o'clock, very different from the main flights of surface-feeders. I 

 suspect that this is true of other diving ducks on migration and may be accounted 

 for by the fact that the first hours of daylight are taken up in feeding. 



Gait, Swimming, Diving. The gait is exactly the same clumsy rolling walk as 

 in the Greater Scaup. They swim as a rule rather low, the tail just above the water 

 or dragging, and the head drawn well down. On the breeding grounds F. Harper 

 (MS.) noticed that the females carried their necks extended and heads elevated 

 whereas the males had the typical drawn-in "low-browed" appearance. I have 

 never noticed this on the wintering grounds and think that it is undoubtedly part 

 of the very simple courtship performance. 



It is not uncommon to see Lesser Scaups dabbling about in shallow water, al- 

 though I have never seen them really feeding by tipping. Often they turn way over 

 on one side, sometimes almost on their backs to arrange the feathers on the flanks or 

 under parts. They are rather slow swimmers. Seldom do they come out of the 

 water during the autumn or winter, but on the breeding grounds they do so often. 

 Harper writes that he saw them resting or standing on a log or crawling out upon a 

 muskrat house, shaking their tails vigorously from side to side as if to cast off any 

 remaining drops of water. 



They do not care to feed in particularly deep water, perhaps three to eight feet 

 is about right for them, and when thus engaged they stay under from 20 to 25 

 seconds, the periods on the surface being much shorter, not more than one-third to 

 one-half as long. I have no notes upon the maximum length of time under water, 

 but doubt if it is much over 35 seconds. Some observed at Orlando, Florida, stayed 

 under as long as 33 seconds with an above-water period of 10 to 12 seconds (U.S. 

 Biological Survey field catalogue). 



At the start of a dive they usually leap forward, almost out of water, with the 

 wings closed and the tail somewhat spread out. 



When swimming up to decoys they are very apt to pack densely together, offering 

 easy shots to the "stand" shooter. When diving, of course, they scatter out much 

 more, each member of a flock swimming along while he is on the surface. When they 

 have located a rich harvest, they all stop for a time and dive in an irregular and 

 greatly scattered formation. 



