Brewer on the Rocky Mountain Golden-eye. 151 



in the vicinity of Fort Anderson. On the 14th of June, in the 

 following year ( 18G4), Mr. Macfarlane secured a fine male example 

 at Fort Anderson. This individual had heen in the habit of flying 

 over the fort for several evenings in succession, and was, at length, 

 secured on a small lake just behind the reservation. The female 

 had her nest somewhere in the vicinity, but eluded all their 

 endeavors to discover the place. Mr. Macfarlane speaks of this 

 species as the rarest of the Ducks that visit those parts. 



Mr. C. W. Sheperd, in his account of his visit to Iceland, 

 mentions finding this Duck breeding on a small island in the Lake 

 of My'Vatn, in the northern part of that island. The little islet 

 was occupied exclusively by two species, this Golden-eye and the 

 Mergus serrator. The soil was composed of broken lava, and both 

 species were breeding in holes. Some of their nests wei'e quite out 

 of reach, in the cracks and crevices of the lava. The two species 

 were living together on the most familiar terras. One female Mer- 

 ganser was actually found sitting on a nest not her own, and which 

 contained four eggs belonging to a Golden-eye ; the differences be- 

 tween the eggs of the two species, being strongly marked, admitted 

 of no possibility of confounding them. 



The habits of the Rocky Mountain Golden-eye essentially re- 

 semble those of the more common species, but it is said by Holboll 

 to be not so good a diver as that bird. It cannot dive in deeper 

 water than the Harlequin, and is generally to be met with only on 

 fjords. He also describes it as the most wary of all the Water-fowl, 

 and it is with the greatest difficulty that one can approach within 

 gunshot range of it. His collectors, in order to procure specimens, 

 were compelled to conceal themselves near where it feeds, on nights 

 when the moon gave light enough for them to see to shoot. In the 

 spring it appeared in pairs, but flew so high that it was seldom shot. 



Two eggs of this species in the Smithsonian collection, from the 

 Yukon, measure, one 2.40 x 1.60 inches, and the other 2.40 x 

 1.70. Two others from Iceland, in the same collection, measure 

 2.55 x 1.80, and 2.45 x 1.80. They are of a uniform deep 

 grayish pea-green color. 



Dr. Kriiper (Naumannia, 1857, p. 40), states that in Iceland it 

 commences breeding in May or early in June, and that eggs may be 

 found until the middle of July. Its nest cannot be mistaken for 

 that of any other Duck, as the down with which it is lined is pure 

 white. The female sits so close that she may usually be captured on 



