280 NYROCA AFFINIS 



Flight. There is nothing especially characteristic about the Little Scaup on the 

 wing. They travel about a great deal, flying close to the water in irregular scattered 

 flocks but when high up they assume more regular formations, like other diving 

 ducks. The wings make only a rustling or low whistling sound. 



Sociably inclined as it is, this little duck gathers in immense flocks on its wintering 

 grounds. As we see them in New England on their autumn migration they appear in 

 small flocks of eight to a dozen, while single stragglers, young birds of the year, are 

 common. 



Association with other Species. Although so extremely gregarious, Lesser 

 Scaup do not seem to mix very freely with other ducks. Sometimes little flocks of 

 this species appear on our New England waters with one or two Red-heads among 

 them. Sometimes, though rarely, there will be an occasional Greater Scaup with 

 them. In certain regions they are found associated with Canvas-backs (San Pablo 

 Bay, California) and at Currituck Sound, North Carolina, they feed on much the 

 same waters as the Canvas-back, Red-head and Ruddy, although there is no real 

 mixing of the flocks. 



On the nesting grounds their eggs are now and then laid in the nest of the Red- 

 head, but this is not a common occurrence (A. Wolfe, in litt.). They also occasionally 

 lay with the Gadwall, White-winged Scoter, Widgeon, Shoveller, and very likely 

 with other ducks, but their own clutches are always unmixed (Job, 1899; Bent, 

 1901-02; Ferry, 1910). The only exception to this latter statement is the case of a 

 nest found by Harper (MS.) which contained seven eggs of the Lesser Scaup and one 

 of the Ruddy Duck. 



Voice. I have never heard any note from the male and it is usually considered 

 an absolutely silent bird. However, Major Brooks tells me he has heard a low 

 "cooing" note during display, comparable to the extremely low cooing voice of the 

 male Greater Scaup. Wetmore (1920) seems to be the only observer who has re- 

 corded any other sound from the male, and he describes it as a low whistle ! Probably 

 these sounds carry only a few yards and they must tax the sharpest ear. 



The female has a voice similar to that of the Greater Scaup, if not quite the same. 

 She, in contrast to the male, is noisy, and her note is often heard and well imitated by 

 the shore gunners of our Atlantic coast. It may be likened to the syllables kerr-urr, 

 or hurrr. 



Food. As with the Greater Scaup, animal food comprises a great part of the diet 

 of this species. In winter this consists of large numbers of mollusks, both fresh- and 

 salt-water species, and, in the more southern regions, insects, dragon-fly larvae and 

 water-beetles. The favorite vegetable food is the seed of widgeon-grass and other 



