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Breeding Range. (Fig. 32). Formerly (prior to 1915), large breeding populations were present on Devils Lake and on Stump Lake (Nelson County). At Devils Lake the greater numbers apparently occurred on an arm of the lake known as Teller's, or Six-mile, Bay. On this bay in 1898 shortly after their arrival in late May, hundreds of White-winged Scoters could be seen during the spectacular early morning flight, "circling and quartering after the manner of swallow"; later during July, 28 nests with eggs were found near the shoreline (Bryant 1899). By 1916, the breeding population on Devils Lake was estimated to be 200-300 adults (V. Bailey) or about 80 pairs (A. Eastgate). The last report for Devils Lake occurred in 1921 when 10 adults were seen (Wood 1923).

At Stump Lake, active nests were found in 1898 (Job 1899), and collections of eggs include five sets taken in 1901, seven sets in 1902, and four sets in 1905 (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum). In 1912, 30 breeding pairs could be seen from one strip of beach (Bailey 1916a), and in 1916, the breeding population for the lake was estimated to be about 40 pairs (A. Eastgate). The last report of breeding on Stump Lake occurred in 1920 when one nest with eggs was found (Wood 1923).

Smaller breeding populations, limited to a few pairs, also were reported from Sweetwater Lake in Ramsey County, from Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge in Ward County, and from lakes that are located within the present boundaries of Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in Burke County. On Sweetwater Lake in 1916, a few pairs were noted in June and a pair with a brood on August 22 (F. M. Bailey); on July 19, 1917, 33 adults were recorded on this lake (H. C. Oberholser). On Des Lacs Refuge, seven males were counted on June 14, 1941 (S. H. Low), and broods were seen on July 28, 1952 (Huenecke 1953), and on August 6, 1953 (K. Dybsetter); a total of 72 adults were recorded in this area on June 28, 1917 (H. C. Oberholser). Records from the Lostwood Refuge area include observations of several adults during June 1913 (H. E. Peck); observations on Thompson's Lake of three pairs and a nest with eggs on July 13, 1915 (Woodruff 1923); one adult on June 2, 1938 (S. H. Low); and observations on Knutson's Slough in 1955 of 2 pairs on July 12 and an adult female with a brood on August 15 (Duebbert 1961). The latter record represents the last known breeding record for the entire state.

Other instances of breeding include an isolated record of two broods that were observed by Seth H. Low on Poison Lake in McHenry County on July 28, 1936 (Cook 1946). Adults also were recorded on Spring Lake in Benson County during early July, 1915 (R. Kellogg), on George Lake in McHenry County on June 21, 1917 (H. C. Oberholser), and on the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge in Ward County on June 6, 1936 (P. N. Chase) and June 19, 1940 (F. S. Dart). According to Pettingill (1953), broods may be observed on some of the more undisturbed lakes of the Turtle Mountains. In the Turtle Mountains, adults were recorded during the breeding season on Lake Metigoshe in 1916 (A. Eastgate); at scattered lakes in 1917 including Lake Metigoshe, Lake View, Lake Thompson, T'jou Lake, Willow Lake, and Carpenter lake (H. C. Oberholser); and at School Section Lake in Rolette County in 1952 (D. Gray).

The gradual decline and eventual extirpation of the breeding populations in North Dakota was probably due in large part to three major factors:

1. intensive egg collecting by local hobbyists and eastern ornithologists,
2. excessive hunting pressure by sportsmen, and
3. deterioration of water quality associated with lowered water levels on the two main concentration areas, Devils Lake and Stump Lake.

Breeding Habitat. Large, brackish permanent lakes bordered by fairly dense brushland or woodland apparently represented the optimum type of breeding habitat for this species. The tracts of brush or woods in this complex occurred either as marginal strips along the shorelines or as patches on islands within the lakes. Other types of wetland that were occasionally occupied also were bordered by brush or woods and included slightly brackish or moderately brackish permanent lakes and fairly deep river impoundments.

Nesting. Breeding season: Mid-June to mid-September; peak, late June to early September. Extreme egg dates (63 nests): June 15 [1901] in Nelson County (Bent 1925) to July 25 [1920] in Nelson County (Wood 1923). Extreme dates of dependent young (24 broods): July 28 [1938] in McHenry County (S. H. Low) to September 3 [1952] in Ward County (Huenecke 1953). On September 2, 1911, 17 broods were observed on Stump Lake (A. Eastgate).

Most nests on Stump Lake were found on the islands and were situated on the ground under shrubs, usually either rose or wolfberry (Job 1899, and Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum). Along Teller's Bay of Devils Lake, nests were placed on the ground in patches of brush at distances of a few rods from the lake shore to a mile and a half back; usually they occurred in scattered segregated groups of three or four nests, each group occupying an area less than 20 rods in diameter (Bryant 1899).

Indicated clutch size (21 nests): 6 to 14 eggs; mean, 10.0 eggs. A probable dump nest containing 17 eggs was observed on Stump Lake on July 19, 1902 (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum). During August 1911, a hen with a brood of 37 young was recorded on Stump Lake (A. Eastgate). At Stump Lake on June 29, 1905, two unusual nests were found: one containing 5 eggs of the White-winged Scoter and 12 eggs of the Lesser Scaup and the other containing 9 scoter eggs and 1 scaup egg (Bishop egg collection catalog, Peabody Museum).

Figure 32. Breeding Range of White-winged Scoter.