WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 43 
these latter. The eyes are yellow, and the feet yellow 
with black webs. 
The male is about seventeen inches long, with a bill 
of about two inches, wing nine and shank one and-a- 
half. Female considerably smaller. 
The Golden-eye inhabits the north temperate and 
sub-arctic regions of both hemispheres, breeding far 
north and migrating south in winter ; it is rare in India, 
but several specimens have been obtained in the Indus 
Valley, which it apparently visits regularly, and one in 
Oudh. The Indian Museum also contained a specimen 
from Sibsaugor, Assam; and according to a writer in 
the Rangoon Gazette, November 26th, 1998, it occurs 
regularly in small flocks on the Irrawaddy. 
This species is an active bird, a fine diver and a swift 
flyer, the wings producing a strong whistling sound 
in flight. It seldom comes ashore, but can walk well 
enough. It feeds mostly on animal food, including small 
fish, and is itself very fishy eating. It breeds in holes of 
trees and lays about a dozen greyish greeneggs. Inthe 
structure of its breastbone and windpipe, as well as in 
plumage and habits, it resembles the Mergansers, and 
is undoubtedly the nearest ally of that group. 
The Stiff-tail. 
Evrismatura leucocephala, BLANFORD, Faun. Brit. 
ind, Birds, Vol. fV, p. 406. 
VERNACULAR NAMES.—None known. 
This is a most remarkable-looking Duck, very short 
and squat in build, with a broad bill very high and 
angular at the base, and suddenly sinking towards the 
end, with the very small nail bent underneath at a sharp 
angle. The bill is much broader at the end than at the 
base. 
