436 ANATIDiE. 



and more easily procured than adult males. Not only do 

 they resort to and feed in the estuaries of rivers that fall 

 into the sea, hut they are also regular visitors to inland 

 lakes and meres. If five or six of these Ducks are together, 

 they do not all dive at the same time, hut some of them 

 remain on the surface as sentinels, keeping a good look-out 

 to prevent heing surprised by an enemy. They are active 

 in the water, swimming and diving with great rapidity when 

 in pursuit of their food, which consists mainly of small 

 fishes, crustaceans, and mollusks. The flesh of this species, 

 like that of other Ducks feeding on such substances, is not 

 in much estimation. Young birds are better than old ones, 

 but the muscular parts are dark and coarse in appearance 

 and flavour. 



The Golden-eye is a regular winter visitor to suitable 

 localities in England, Ireland, and Scotland, inclusive of the 

 Orkneys and the Shetlands. Birds have been observed as 

 late as the end of May, and it has been asserted that the 

 nest has been found in a hollow tree on the shores of Loch 

 Assynt, Satherlandshire, although the statement requires 

 a confirmation which it has not yet received. 



This species is only of rare occurrence in the Faeroes ; and 

 in Iceland and Greenland it appears to be replaced by 

 Barrow's Golden-eye, C. islandicd.^ In Scandinavia it is 

 common in summer, and the following notes were supplied 

 to the Author by the late Kichard Dann : — " The Golden- 

 eye is numerously spread over the whole of Lapland, as far 

 as the wooded districts extend, both to the western range 



* The late David Graham, of York, under date of 13th February, 1864, 

 wrote that "a female specimen of Barrow's Golden-eye, shot at the mouth of 

 the Derwent, had recently been sent to him for preservation." Some further, 

 and remarkable, statements regarding this species will be found, by those curious 

 upon the subject, in 'The Zoologist,' pp. 9038, 9122; the then Editor of that 

 periodical accepting the main assertion without question ! The best and most 

 recent American authorities say that they can lay down no rule for distinguishing 

 between the females of the two species ; but on the average the female of 

 Barrow's Golden-eye is the larger, and the young male 'Barrow' may be 

 recognized by his superior size, higher bill, and smaller expanse of white on the 

 wings. The adult male ' Barrow ' is larger than the male Golden-eye ; the 

 head is more crested, and the gloss on it is purplish. 



