ÍUXIGUXA ■ MAR1XA .
Scaup Duck.
Anas inorila, Lion. Faun. Suec., p. 39.
— frenata, Sparijm. Mus. Carls., tab. 38.
Futitjula marila, Stcph. Coat, of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. sii. p. 19*
-----— Gemer*, Bay ; Eyton, Hist, of Rarer Brit. Birds, p. 68.
A'i/m ra marila, Flem. Phil, of Zool., vol. ii. p. 260.
AytTifa marila, Boiu, Isis, 1822, p. 664.
~ islandicus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., p. 911.
——j— (- leveonotus, Brehm, ibid., p. 913.
Marita frenala, Bohap. Compt. Rend, de l'Acad. Sci., tom. tHu.
Anas mbterrama, Spopoli (Bonap.). .
Fulix marita, Baird. Cot. of N. Amer. Birds in Mu», Smith« Instil.
How vpfih more imshuk'» wv the members of the great > $ r.
portion b o f the «* the countries Iving southward o f rW ? . !
Harclé j, Fuligulh: , -v ¿Vyroca, Oidemia, and Sntmitnu »re «btuM- «pj-: ; v
of the srorld: they /»*• w¿h*»vely northern forms; aod specie# »»f »m i :0a i
o f the British isla»-*“
The Scaup DtM> •with us is strictly a winter visitant; for, atibough it w S&i
shot a jemaie attí£aisfd by her young on a small loch between Loch mgd Mrs
the mo* th of June 1834, that is, I believe, the only instance of such an **&.&*■&&»<&-. ;W: '
he may have been mistaken as to the young bird. Scaups, like .-«••«v. few
north i i autumn, and immediately spread themselves over the • •
bays, etjtuaric#, and the mouths of all the great rivers, from -¡me*b to
Londoi j market* receive a fair supply j no epicure, however, # ’ Stofeea for the table,
any more thau he would a Scoter or a Sheldrake— the jfet*. ‘M* W*dS»*S«^&
fishy, u agh, and unpalatable, when compared with that «A the »ch**.«?“ -i-ir.
and M* Hard. The unsavoury nature o f its flesh does not, <fe*í
the nattiralist; for be sees in it the typical illustration of sw o f «W ■■?■ e«; *w .4amt*d<r are
now di* jided.
In a; #*fee o f nature the Scaup is a fine showy '.*$■ PM0 ■•>&■#& %■
and htife'V^wy backs presenting a strong twin*** «0 tV
sex, l| ftta unable to say whether the tnutafoiwafakm t# $«#(***#.'« *■$ »he males of
other Hbfcfefr i«ke« place in this species also • *.s- -t men,, H
in outwiBrtt nppearance j t 8t after the season o f <
o f the ioBe«:tors who have visited that island have folp '«& =■■■ its eggs. Professor
Reiuhaiih states that it is also found in Greenland, a* wto.-v. am ?•■■■;-(? imm hr. surprised, since it
is known to l?<habii the whole o f the northern region o f America, ks ireti m ail the countries in the
same latitude in the Old World,from Norway to Siberia, China, and Japan : the Scaup is, in fact, a frequenter
of the countries just within and without the arctic circle in all situations »>a»fcdde to its habits. That in the
cold sea boh it goes as far south as Amoy, in China, we have the autkonH .A Mr, Swmboe ; while, nearer
home, i not only occurs at the same period in all parts o f Southern fcttropr. Hut also in Algeria and in
most of the other provinces o f Africa north o f the line. • In India it i» scarce and, Meortfmg to Mr. Jerdon,
is only fiHind on the northern hills.
If the ¡various local faunas o f the birds o f our islands be consulted, the reader will learn that, according to
Mr. Rotld, it is rare in the western districts o f Cornwall, a few only occurring in severe weather, that in
Moraysh|re it is now less numerous than formerly (at least so says Mr. St. John} ; and Mr. Dunn states that it
is plentiful in Orkney, but less so in Shetland. These affirmations apply more or less to particular periods ;
for at one season it may be scarce in those and many other localities, and at another just as numerous. Why
this should be, it is not easy to explain; and hence it will answer no good end to enumerate in detail
the rivenl Dikes, and indentations o f the sea in which the Scaup has been seen or shot in this eomttry.
but I mal> »'«ate that, besides being found on the southern part o f the European continent, it 1-. <
abundant h Midland and in all the fluviatile portions o f Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Ac.
“ The V says Mr. Selby, “ prefers the muddy shores of the ocean **r such parts only «if