BARROW'S GOLDEN EYE. 



A NEAR relative to the Common Golden Eye, the pres- 

 ^ ent bird, sometimes called the Rocky Mountain Gar- 

 rot, is much more restricted in its range, and although it 

 occurs in Iceland, may be regarded as essentially an 

 American species. In the West it breeds as far south in 

 the Rocky Mountains as Colorado, and in the East from 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, northward. It has been pro- 

 cured at Sitka, Alaska, and noticed by Dall on the Yukon, 

 but its appearance in that Territory is probably only ex- 

 ceptional in the northern portions. It breeds also in 

 Greenland and Iceland. In winter it goes south on the 

 Eastern coast to New York, and to Illinois, Utah, and 

 Colorado in the West. As yet it has not been found 

 west of the mountains south of Alaska. 



For a long time this Duck was confounded with the 

 Common Golden Eye, and supposed by some to be 

 merely a phase of the summer dress of the well-known 

 bird. It is an inhabitant of the interior, and I have never 

 seen it upon any of our coasts, though it does at times 

 visit the vicinity of the ocean. In the Rocky Mountains 

 it has been found breeding at a high altitude and it is 

 believed to nest in Maine. It breeds in the hollows of 

 trees, as is the habit of the Whistler, and the number of 

 eggs is from six to ten. They are dark grayish green in 

 color. In Iceland, where trees are scarce, this species 

 nests in holes in the ground, especially among the blocks 

 and in the crevices of broken lava, in company with the 



