The Golden-eyes. 361 



other fowl. Scaup or Pochard that may 

 have been under water at the moment of 

 firing, after finishing their dive for food 

 at leisure, will startle the fowler by rising 

 close to him as he pushes up to gather 

 his cripples. Golden-eyes seem to know 

 when their companions are leaving the 

 surface in fright, and will at once spring 

 up and follow to join the rest. I never 

 knew them incautiously rise within range 

 after a shot, like the other species alluded 

 to." 



The author of the " Birds of Somerset- 

 shire," Mr. Cecil Smith, has some excellent 

 remarks on the way the (jolden-eye often 

 escapes after being wounded. He says : 

 — "The Golden-eye is a very expert 

 swimmer and diver, so much so, that, like 

 many others of this family, it is often a 

 work of considerable difficulty to recover 

 a winged bird if it falls into the water. . . . 

 In inland waters where there are rushes 

 and weeds these birds — and even the 

 Wild Duck, which is not nearly so much 

 of a diver — dive into some weedy part, 

 where they he perfectly concealed, allow- 

 ing nothing but a very small portion of 

 the bill, just enough to admit air, to 

 appear above water : if there are no weeds 

 I have known them conceal themselves 



