BARROW:S^GOLDEN-EYE. 179 



Barrow's golden-eye is much less common than the 

 ordinary whistler. Like that species it is a northern 

 bird, but it appears to be much less abundant in Europe 

 than even in this country. I have frequently seen, 

 breeding in the lakes in the high Rocky Mountains, 

 golden-eyes which were probably of this species, but I 

 was never so fortunate as to have any of them in the 

 hand. Like the whistler, Barrow's golden-eye breeds 

 in trees, laying eight to ten eggs, grayish-green in color. 

 Mr. C. W. Shepard found this duck breeding in Ice- 

 land, where, in the absence of trees, it built its nest in 

 holes in the cracks and crevices of the lava. Barrow's 

 golden-eye has been found in Alaska, on the Yukon 

 River, and at Sitka, and specimens have been taken at 

 other points in the north. Mr. Boardman believed that 

 this species breeds in the woods of Calais, Me., though 

 as yet their nests have not been discovered. Mr. Nel- 

 son states that it is a winter resident on Lake Michigan, 

 and is probably found generally in winter through the 

 interior wherever there is open water. A number of 

 specimens have been taken on the coast of Massachu- 

 setts. Mr. Elliot has found it quite abundant on the St. 

 Lawrence River, near Ogdensburgh, and has frequently 

 killed it there over decoys. He says : "The birds would 

 fly up and down the river, doubtless coming from and 

 going to Lake Erie, stopping occasionally in the coves 

 to feed and floating down with the current for a consid- 

 erable distance, when they would rise and fly up stream 

 again. My decoys were always placed in some cove or 

 bend of the stream where the current was least strong, 



