Sea and Bay Ducks 



black. Feet orange, with dusky webs; bill black or blackish 



green, and with large nostrils; iris bright golden. 

 Female — Much smaller; head and throat snuff color, and lacking 



the white space near the bill; fore neck white; upper parts 



brownish black; under parts white, shading into gray on 



sides and upper breast, which are waved with gray or brown ; 



speculum white, but with less white elsewhere on wings 



than male's. Bills variable. 

 Range — North America, nesting from our northern boundaries to 



the far north, and wintering in the United States southward 



to Cuba. 

 Season — Winter resident, also spring and summer migrant in 



United States. 



The Indians of Fraser valley tell a story of two men in one 

 of their tribes who began to discuss whether the whistling noise 

 made by this duck was produced by its wings or by the air rush- 

 ing through its nostrils. The discussion waxed warm and furious. 

 and soon others joined in. Sides were taken, one side claiming 

 that the drakes, with their larger nostrils, make a louder noise than 

 their mates, and that the scoters, which also have large nostrils, 

 make a similar whistling sound when flying. The other side con- 

 tended that whereas the wings of all ducks whistle more or less, 

 the incessant beating of the golden-eye's short, stiff wings, that 

 cut the air like a knife, would account for the louder music. 

 Before long the entire crowd became involved in the dispute; 

 tomahawks were brandished and a free fight followed, according 

 to Allan Brooks, in which a majority of the warriors were killed 

 without settling the question — an excellent story for the Peace 

 Societies. 



Pale Faces, backed by scientific investigation, take sides with 

 the wing whistler party. The golden-eye, in spite of its short, 

 heavy body and small wings, covers immense distances, ninety 

 miles an hour being the speed Audubon credited it with, and a half 

 mile the distance at which he distinctly heard the whistle. Al- 

 though the drake, at least, has every requisite in his vocal organs 

 for making a noise, and the specific name, claiigula, entitles him 

 to a voice, it has never been lifted in our presence. But then 

 this duck has been very little studied in its nesting grounds, 

 where, if ever, a bird gives utterance to any pent-up emotion. 

 In the desolate fur countries at the far north of Europe and 

 America, the golden-eye duck makes a nest in a stump or hollow 



! 22 



