September, 1919] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



57 



journey southward, following roughly the route of 

 the Trent Valley canal, and from there they doubt- 

 less make longer flights to the south. 



That their journeys are not confined to the im- 

 mediate vicinity of water was proved by our presi- 



dent one day when he was gardening with his ears 

 open, and heard from one of his friends of fhe 

 Kawartha district, a salute from the upper air, mak- 

 ing the only record we have of the occurrence of 

 this Tern in Middlesex county. 



AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN OUR TWO GOLDENEYES. 



(Clangula clangula americana and Clangula islandica.) 



By p. a. Taverner. 



Except in adult male plumage, the resemblance 

 between the American Goldeneye and Barrow's 

 Goldeneye is so close as to cause considerable con- 

 fusion in identification. Adult males, the American 

 with its round facial spot against the green-black 

 head and Barrow's with a crescentic spot of purple 

 black are distinctive and need never be confused. 



BARROWS GOLDENEYE. 



The females are so nearly alike as to be separable 

 with difficulty. Various plumage analysis of the 

 two species have been worked out but the one really 

 satisfactory distinction seems to be in the size and 

 shape of the bill which shows the only constant 

 character for all plumages. Even in this feature the 

 occurrence of poorly developed juveniles is a dis- 

 turbing factor. Barrow's Goldeneye has a decidedly 



shorter, narrower and more stumpy bill than the 

 American Goldeneye. The difference, however, is 

 one that it is difficult to carry in mind and can only 

 be certainly perceived when specimens are directly 

 compared. 



The male of the year is almost as difficult as the 

 female to diagnose until traces of the adult head 

 coloration begin to show, when the problem is im- 

 mediately simplified. One distinction between 

 these plumages has been pointed out by Major 



a:\ierican goldeneye. 



Allan Brooks and it seems reliable. A firm strok- 

 ing with the finger from the base of the culmen 

 over the crown reveals in Barrow's Goldeneye 

 that the skull rises at the base of the bill more 

 abruptly than in the American Goldeneye. The 

 dissection of a number of specimens of both species, 

 lately, however, has revealed another distinction 

 that I cannot find hitherto recorded. The wind- 



