| Scaup | n. [ See Scalp a bed of oysters or mussels. ] 1. A bed or stratum of shellfish; scalp. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 2. (Zool.) A scaup duck. See below. [ 1913 Webster ]
Scaup duck (Zool.), any one of several species of northern ducks of the genus Aythya, or Fuligula. The adult males are, in large part, black. The three North American species are: the greater scaup duck (Aythya marila, var. nearctica), called also broadbill, bluebill, blackhead, flock duck, flocking fowl, and raft duck; the lesser scaup duck (Aythya affinis), called also little bluebill, river broadbill, and shuffler; the tufted, or ring-necked, scaup duck (Aythya collaris), called also black jack, ringneck, ringbill, ringbill shuffler, etc. See Illust. of Ring-necked duck, under Ring-necked. The common European scaup, or mussel, duck (Aythya marila), closely resembles the American variety. [ 1913 Webster ]
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