Color—Male—Head and neck, reddish chestnut; lower neck and upper breast, sooty brown, a mixture of finely penciled lines of gray and brown; speculum, gray; back, gray; feathers on the top of the head almost form a crest; bill, lead color.
Female—Head and neck, light cinnamon brown, very pale on the sides of the head near the bill, and throat nearly white; breast and shoulders, dirty light brown, and back a darker dirty brown.
Nest and Eggs—The nest, like that of the canvasback, is generally built in the marsh or on the low banks of a lake, usually lined with down and contains about ten eggs of a brownish buff color.
Measurements—Total length, about 20 inches; wing, 8 1/4 to 8 1/2; bill barely 2 1/4 inches.
| AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK OR BLUE-BILL (Aythya marila neartica) |
THE AMERICAN SCAUP, OR BLUE-BILL
(Aythya marila neartica)
The American scaup, or blue-bill, the lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) and the ring-neck (Aythya collaris) are very plentiful from Washington to Mexico. These three species are generally grouped together by the sportsmen of the Coast under the name of black jacks, black ducks, black-heads or blue-bills; all three species being considered as belonging to the one variety, and the lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) as the younger birds. With the males, at least, there should be no excuse for this error, for they can be easily distinguished by the color of the speculum, or bright band on the wings, and by the color of the metallic sheen of the head and neck. The speculum of the American scaup, or larger blue-bill, is white, the head and neck showing a greenish sheen, quite pronounced in the sunlight. The lesser scaup, or little blue-bill (Aythya affinis) has a white speculum also, but the sheen of the head and neck is purple. The ring-neck (Aythya collaris), has a gray speculum, which, though quite light in color, can easily be distinguished from the pure white of the other two. The metallic sheen of the head of the ring-neck is a dark indigo blue. The bill of the ring-neck is quite different from that of the scaups, being much darker in color and more of a sooty tinge and with a faint bluish band across it about half an inch from the end. The females of all three species resemble each other very closely, but the difference in size will generally determine to which species they belong. The two blue-bills can be told from the female ring-neck by their white speculums. The female ring-neck has the gray of the male, but this does not distinguish it from the female red-head. The smaller size of the ring-neck and darker appearance of the head and neck will always indicate to which species the female belongs. The bill of the female red-head meets the skull in quite an abrupt manner, while hat of the ring-neck has more of the sloping character of the canvasback.