admit the influence of the tide, where it can obtain a plentiful supply of its chief food, the smaller univalve
and bivalve shell-fish. It is in this country a regular winter visitant, and, except in very mild seasons, is
numerously distributed along such o f our shores as suit its peculiar ecouomy. It seldom arrives before the
end of October or the beginning o f November; and its influx increases in proportion to the severity of
the weather, fresh arrivals constantly occurring as the northern countries become frozen up. On the advance
o f spring, it again migrates towards the pole, advancing, for the purpose of breeding and passing the summer,
to very high latitudes. . . . The Scaup is an excellent diver, and obtains its food by searching the mud
beneath with its bill. It also swims well and swiftly ; but its flattened shape makes it appear to be deeply
immersed in the water. Its flight is strong, but not rapid; and the weight o f its body and concavity o f its
wings compel it always to rise against the wind. It is a very wary bird, and appears to know the precise
distance at which it is safe; from which cause, and the resistance given by its plumage, it is not easily killed.
In confinement, it soon becomes tame, and, if provided with water, thrives well upon grain and other food
eaten by poultry ; and under this regimen its flesh is said to improve in flavour, and not to be inferior to that
of the Wild Duck. It makes a hoarse grunting sort o f noise, and has a singular habit o f tossing up its head
and opening its bill, particularly during spring, while swimming and sporting on the water.” “ It is a beautiful
sight,” says Meyer, “ to observe a string o f these birds swimming on the sea, and especially to notice
the usual manner in which they rise from that element. When one o f the extremities o f such a long body
rises in the air, the rest follow as their turn comes ; and thus they are, as it were, drawn up one by one from
the surface of the water; and when pursuing their course, they continue to keep the same order in the air;
on alighting, the same regularity.” Richard Dann informed Mr. Yarrell that “ the Scaup Duck, in its migration
south, does not make its appearance on the western coast of Europe until late in the winter, and
then only in comparatively small numbers; its migration appears to be more southerly than westerly. It
breeds on the swamp and lakes towards the north of the Botlmian Gulf, near Lulea, in considerable numbers.
I have shot the young there previously to their being able to fly. Being* a diving duck, they avoid the reeds,
and keep out m the open water. They are also numerous in the Dovre Fjeld mountains, frequenting and
breeding near swampy solitary lakes as high as the birch-wood grows. At whatever season the Scaup is shot,
it is generally very fat and heavy/’
Eggs of the Scaup-Duck were brought from Iceland by Mr. Proctor, who states that the bird is very
common there, that it sometimes places its nest among the thick herbage and at others upon the bare
stones by the edge o f the freshwater lochs, and that it makes only a slight uest of a few stems o f grass,
but thickly lined with down, and lays from five to eight eggs o f a uniform o%-brown, two inches and three-
eighths in length, by one inch and five-eighths in breadth.
To show the wild and singular situations resorted to by this bird for the purpose o f breeding, the following
extract from some details communicated to Mr. Hewitson, by the late Jolm Wolley, may heicited
•' I had not recognized the Scaup-Duck at all amongst the innumerable flocks and families o f water-fowl I
had seen on the Torneo and Muonio rivers in 1853; but many o f the natives had talked o f a large kind of
‘ Sorrti' (tufted Duck), which seemed to be this bird. Soon after the ice was washed out o f the river at
Muonioniska last spring, I commenced an ‘ upping ’ towards the mountains of the Norwegian frontier.
After about a week’s punting and towing we came to the head quarters of the Scaup-Duck . . . the wider
and stdler parts o f the river were studded with pairs of this conspicuous bird. At the remote peasant’s
house called ‘ Nyimakka’ I examined several, which had been caught on artificial floating islets, where the
birds get entangled in snares as they climb up to rest and plume themselves. On a.little moor at the head
o f a quiet reach o f the river, just where a fierce torrent swept into it, I found a nest which an ermine had
lately ransacked; but the favourite little islands where they regularly breed were not yet quite free from snow.
Some ten days later, when there should have been eggs upon these islands, they were mostly under water
from the unusually high floods, caused by the sudden melting o f the snow in the mountains; and the real
danger for our lives, as we tossed down the rocky rapids, did not allow 1» to think o f many promising
shots.”— E g g s o f British Birds, vol. xi. p. 427.
In Lapland Mr. Wheelwright found the Scaup Duck not uncommon, and he often met with them
breeding, both in the low grounds and on the fell-meadows.
The following is a description of the colouring o f the soft parts soon after death :__
Male. Bill, rich leaden blue, with a black nail; irides fine yellow; tarsi and toes light greyish olive,
darker or blackish on the joints ; the interdigital membranes were also inclined to black.
iW e . - B i l l leaden black, crossed by a band o f grey near the tip; irides* legs, and feet as in the
male; weight 21bs. 7 oz.
The Plate represents the two sexes, o f the size o f life.