228 SCAUP DUCK.
however rarely heard during the day, and indeed, like many other species,
these birds are partly nocturnal.
At the approach of spring the Drakes pay their addresses to the females,
before they set out on their journey. At that period the males
become more active and lively, bowing their heads, opening their broad
bills, and uttering a kind of quack, which to the listener seems produced
by wind in their stomach, but notwithstanding appears to delight their
chosen females.
The Scaup Duck varies materially as to size at different ages. Some
wounded individuals which I kept, and which were birds of the first year,
were much larger and heavier at the end of a year ; and I agree, with my
learned friend NUTTALL, that specimens may be procured measuring
from sixteen and a half to eighteen, nineteen, or twenty inches in length.
On the Atlantic coast I have met with this species from the Gulf
of Mexico to the Bay of Fundy, and my friend THOMAS MACCULI.OCII
has told me that they are not unfrequent at Pictou in Nova Scotia. Farther
north I saw none ; and their breeding places are yet unknown to me.
ANAS MAHILA, Linn. Syst. Nat vol. i. p. 196—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 853.
FULIGULA MAIIILA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 392.—.
Swains, and Bicharás. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 453.
SCAUP DUCK, ANAS MAHILA, Wils. Amer. Ornith, vol. viii. p. 84. pi. 69. fig. 8.—.
Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 437-
Adult Male. CCXXIX. Fig. 1.
Bill as long as the head, deeper than broad at the base, enlarged and
flattened towards the end, which is rounded, the frontal angles narrow
and pointed. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at first straight and
declínate, then slightly concave, along the'unguis curved, the ridge broad
at the base, narrowed at the middle, enlarged and convex towards the
end, the sides nearly erect at the base, becoming more and more declínate
and convex, the edges curved upwards, with about forty lamella?, the
unguis small and oblong. Nostrils submedial, oblong, rather large, pervious,
near the ridge, in an oblong groove with a soft membrane. Lower
mandible flat, with the angle very long and rather narrow, the dorsal
line very short and straight, the erect edges with about sixty lamella?,—
on the upper edge, however, the lamella? are more numerous,—the unguis
broadly elliptical.
SCAUP DUCK. 229
Head of moderate size. Eyes small. Neck of moderate length, rather
thick. Body comparatively short, compact, and depressed. Wings
small. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind; tarsus very
short, compressed, anteriorly with a series of broad scutella, externally of
which is another of smaller, the rest reticulated with angular scales.
Hind toe small, with a free membrane beneath ; anterior toes double the
length of the tarsus, united by reticulated membranes having a sinus at
their free margins, the outer and inner with loose somewhat lobed marginal
membranes, all obliquely scutellate above, the third and fourth about
equal and longest. Claws small, that of first toe very small and curved,
of middle toe largest, with an inner thin edge, of the rest very slender
and pointed.
Plumage dense, soft, blended. Feathers of the head and neck short and
velvety, those of the hind head a little elongated. Wings shortish, narrow,
pointed; primary quills curved, strong, tapering, the first longest, the
second very little shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondary broad
and rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail very short, much
rounded, of fourteen feathers.
Bill light greyish-blue, the unguis blackish. Iris yellow. Feet greyish
blue, the webs and claws black. The head, the whole neck, and the
fore part of the back and breast black, the head and neck glossed with
purple and green, the rest tinged with brown. Hind part of the back,
rump, abdomen, and upper and lower tail-coverts brownish-black. Middle
of the back, scapulars, inner secondaries, anterior part of abdomen,
and sides greyish-white, beautifully marked with undulating black lines.
Middle of the breast white, wings light brownish-grey. Alula, primaries
at the base and end, and the greater part of secondaries, brownish-black ;
the speculum on the latter white.
Length to end of tail 16£ inches, to end of claws 18; extent of wings
29; wing from flexure 8£; tail 2^; bill along the back l | g , along the
edge of lower mandible 2 ; tarsus 1 | ; middle toe 2 ^ , its claw
Weight 1 lb. 6 oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCXXIX. Fig. 2.
The female agrees with the male in the characters of the plumage, and
in the colours of the bare parts ; but those of the former differ considerably.
The head, neck, and fore part of the back and breast, are umber
brown; and there is a broad patch of white along the fore part of the