DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS: Family Anatidae [163] 



fused with the more common American Golden-eye that our records of its 

 occurrence in Oregon are probably much more meager than its actual 

 numbers warrant. Mearns (1879) ^ rst reported it from Fort Klamath, and 

 Merrill (1888) later found it a common wintering species in the same 

 locality. We know very little about its present winter distribution, as 

 we have only two winter records, both of them adult males, one, a mounted 

 specimen seen by Jewett in Hermiston on January 13, 1917, but reported 

 to have been killed earlier in the winter, and the other, a bird taken by 

 him at Klamath Falls on January i, 192.9. The species may be expected 

 in the State wherever there is open water, however, and hunters should 

 carefully examine their game bags in an effort to detect it. 



We know it best as a summer resident of the high Cascade lakes and 

 it may be expected on any of the larger lakes there during that season. 

 There is an adult female (No. 3511) in Jewett's collection taken at Frog 

 Lake, Lane County, on July 19, 1914, and we have both seen the species 

 frequently on Diamond, Sparks, Elk, Paulina, and East Lakes. On Sparks 

 Lake, Gabrielson saw a female with 10 to n young on July 2.7, 1919; and 

 on Diamond Lake, he saw a female with 6 young on July 30, 1930, and 

 two broods of partly grown birds on August 8, 1932.. 



The only stomach examined was that of Jewett's Frog Lake bird. It 

 contained fragments of diving beetles, dragonfly and other insect remains, 

 and finely divided vegetable matter. There is no reason to believe that 

 its food differs materially from that of the American Golden-eye. 



Buffle-head; Butterball: 



Charitonetta albeola (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "A plump little duck with short, pointed bill and round, crested 

 head. Adult male: head, except white patch, rich iridescent purple, violet, and 

 green; back and part of wings black; rump and tail gray; rest of plumage white. 

 Adult female: mainly grayish or dusky, with a large white spot on ear coverts and 

 white patch on middle of wing; belly white." (Bailey) Downy young: "As might 

 be expected, the downy young buffle-head closely resembles the young goldeneye in 

 color pattern. The upper parts, including the upper half of the head from below the 

 lores and eyes, the hind neck, the back and the rump, are deep rich 'bone brown,' 

 with a lighter gloss on the forehead and mantle; the inner edge of the wing is pure 

 white; there is a large white spot on each side of the scapular region and on each side 

 of the rump; and an indistinct whitish spot on each flank. The under parts, including 

 the chin, throat, cheeks, breast, and belly are pure white, shading off gradually into 

 the darker color on the sides of the body and with an indistinct brownish collar 

 around the lower neck." (Bent) Si^e: "Male, length 14.15-15.2.5, wing 6.75-6.90, 

 bill 1.10-1.15." (Bailey) Nest: In hole in a tree or a bank, lined with down. Eggs: 

 6 to 14, usually 10 to iz, varying from ivory yellow to pale olive buff. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from British Columbia, central Alaska, northern 

 Mackenzie, and Great Slave Lake south to northern Montana. Winters from Aleu- 

 tians, Great Lakes, and coast of Maine southward to Mexico and Lower California. 

 In Oregon: Formerly an abundant migrant and winter resident of Oregon, arriving in 

 numbers in mid-October and remaining until mid-April. 



