Greater scaup is fairly shallow and has an abundance of food sources and cover. The female lays six to nine olive-buff-colored eggs, which she incubates for 24–28 days. A larger clutch could indicate brood parasitism by other greater scaups or even ducks of other species. Newly hatched chicks are covered with down and are soon able to walk, swim, and feed themselves; however, they are not able to fly until 40–45 days after hatching. The vulnerable small chicks follow their mother, who protects them from predators. The greater scaup dive to obtain food, which they eat on the surface. They mainly eat
The Bird Lover the lai develops somewhat differently: instead of a happy ending, the lai ends in tragedy. A "sophisticated rationalization" of the type is found in Chrétien de Troyes's "Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart", where Lancelot appears at Guinevere's heavily barred window and cuts his fingers bending the bars back. In French scholarship, this type is often referred to as ""loiseau bleu"" or "the blue bird", so named for a story by Madame d'Aulnoy. The Bird Lover The Bird Lover, also known as The Prince as Bird, is a type of narrative structure in folklore, no. 432 in the Aarne–Thompson classification