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FULIGULA CLANGULA— LINN. 



GOLDEN-EYE. 



Golden-eye, Anas Clangula, Wils. Amer. Orn. 



Fuligula Clangula, Bonap Syn 



Clangula vulgaris, Common Golden-eye, Sw. & Rich. 



Common Golden eye, Nutt. Man. 



Golden-eye Duck, Fuligula Clangula, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Bill black, high at the base, where there is 

 quite a large spot of white ; head ornamented with a beautiful crest, 

 the feathers more than an inch long and loose, insides yellow ; the 

 entire head and upper part of the neck rich glossy green with pur- 

 ple reflections, more particularly so on the throat and forehead ; rest 

 of the neck, with the entire plumage, white ; sides of the rump and 

 vent dusky gray ; tail grayish-brown ; back and wings brownish- 

 black, a large patch of white on the latter, formed by the larger por- 

 tion of the secondaries and the tips of its coverts ; legs reddish- 

 orange. Length twenty inches, wing nine inches. Female, head 

 and upper part of the neck dull brown ; wings dusky ; lower parts 

 white, as are six of the secondaries and their coverts ; the tips of 

 the latter dusky. About three inches smaller than the male. 



This species is better known to our gunners by the name of " Whis- 

 tler," from the peculiar whistling noise produced by its wings when 

 flying. By some it is called " Great Head," from its beautiful, rich, 

 and thickly-crested head. 



With us, the Golden-eye is not a very numerous species, arriving 

 about the same time that a majority of its tribe are compelled to quit 

 the " great nursery" at the North for our more temperate climate. 

 I have met with it in the Fall and Spring at Egg Harbor, Delaware 

 and Chesapeake Bay, as also on Long Island. On the interior 

 streams it is more common. Its food consists of small shell and 

 other fish, which it procures by diving. In the Fall, its flesh is 

 equal to the Scaup Duck, and by many considered superior. Its un- 

 common shyness makes it difficult to be decoyed ; 1 have often had it 

 pass my decoys when well concealed without offering to approach. 

 In stormy weather it takes shelter in the coves with the Scaup Duck, 

 where it is more readily killed ; it usually flies rather high, making 

 no other sound than that produced by the action of its wings. 



