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
What a queer bird in Chicago", with the work allegedly first printed in the "Bulletin of the Chicago Board of Education". The "Chicago Ledger" printed the work its "Jokes and More Jokes" section in May 1922, where the word "wonderful" replaced "queer". In July 1922, it appeared as a verse of imprecise origin in the "American Consular Bulletin". When printed in the "Pleasantries" section of "The Christian Register" in September 1922, it was attributed as a "[c]omposition by foreigner in a Chicago night school." By 1980, it was published as a folk song to be sung as a round. What a queer bird "What