OF NORTH AMERICA. a 
tent 24 feet. Bill black, feet orange with 
dark webs. Eyes bright yellow. ‘The female 
has a brownish head without the white spot, 
and the general tone is duller, and the bird a 
little smaller. 
Habitat — North America in general, and 
a common winter duck in the United States 
on both coasts and often in the interior. 
A bird of beautiful plumage in the male, 
an expert diver, fond of the flats. 
Opinions differ as to the edibility of their 
flesh. Coues says: “ Meat bad—rank and 
fishy,’ but gunners on the New England 
coast eat them at times, and in olden times 
roast Whistler was often on the spit, and 
that when other ducks were more plentiful 
than now. 
25. BARROW'S GOLDEN-EYE. 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN WHISTLER: 
Glaucionetta tslandica. 
Habitat — More northern than the last 
named, although it breeds in the Rocky Moun- 
tains. It comes in the winter down the coast 
and rivers, but is never so common as_ the 
other form. It is possible that it is often 
confounded with the common Whistler, but 
can be easily distinguished by the white spot 
before the eye, which is triangular in this 
species and oval in the other. ‘There is also 
a crest on the top of the head and a parti- 
