ANATIDy^-:. 



439 



THE GOLDEN-EVE. 



Clangula gi,aucion (Linnceus). 



The Golden-eye generally arrives on our coasts about the middle 

 of October, and so long as the inland waters are not frozen it fre- 

 quents many of our lakes, as well as rivers and tidal estuaries ; 

 immature birds sometimes remaining until the end of May. The 

 Rev. H. A. Macpherson saw a year-old male in North Uist, on 

 July loth 1886, but as a rule the species is comparatively scarce in 

 the Outer Hebrides ; while a statement that its nest had been 

 found in a hollow tree on Loch Assynt, Sutherlandshire, has not 

 yet received confirmation. In Ireland this bird is well known on 

 the coasts, and especially on the fresh-water loughs ; the young 

 and the females being often called ' Morillons,' and considered by 

 many fowlers as quite distinct from the far rarer mature males. 



In the Faeroes this species is of rare occurrence, while in Iceland 

 and Greenland it is represented by the larger Barrow's Golden-eye 

 (C islandica), the male of which has a greater development of crest 

 and a more purplish gloss on the head. The female of the latter 

 is barely recognizable by her average superiority in size ; yet an 

 assertion — unsupported by evidence — that one had been obtained 

 at the mouth of the Derwent, has found believers. In Scandinavia 



