Greater scaup refers to a seabird mentioned by Aristotle and others and is thought to refer to a duck, auklet or other seabird. The species name "marila" is from the Greek word for charcoal embers or coal dust. The greater scaup was first studied by Linnaeus in 1761. Male greater scaup from America are distinguishable from those in Europe and Asia by the stronger vermiculations, worm-like carvings or marks on the mantle and scapulars, and are considered a separate subspecies, "A. m. nearctica". Females of the two subspecies are indistinguishable. Based on size differences, a Pleistocene paleosubspecies, "Aythya marila asphaltica", has also
The Bird 'Grip' ever after. While the hero in these stories is normally aided by a talking animal, for it to be a ghost is unusual. This is the grateful dead, a common folklore motif, found also in "Fair Brow". The Bird 'Grip' The Bird 'Grip' is a Swedish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it "The Pink Fairy Book". It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird; other tales of this type include "The Golden Bird", "The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener", "How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon", "The Nunda, Eater of People", and "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire