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small and bent-down nail. The nostrils are situated near the middle of the beak, in 

 which the lamellae are concealed by the overlapping of the upper mandible. The 

 wings are pointed and rather short with the first quill the longest, and the tail of 

 sixteen feathers is rounded and of medium length. In the male the coloration is 

 pied black and white, while it is brown and white in the female. The golden eye 

 (C. glauciori) takes its name from the golden-yellow hue of the iris, and the male may 

 be recognized by the metallic green of the head and upper neck, the white patch at 

 the base of the beak below the eye, and by the scapular region being striped with 

 white. This species, which measures from sixteen to nineteen inches in length, 

 inhabits Northern Europe and Asia, migrating south in winter, and is represented 

 by a variety in North America. It always builds in holes in trees at a considerable 

 height above the ground. Of the American species, Barrow's golden eye may be 

 distinguished by the white patch behind the beak extending to a point above the 

 level of the eye; while in the smaller buffelheaded duck (C. albeola), which has 

 occasionally straggled across the Atlantic, the white patch on the head of the male 

 is placed behind the eye and extends right across the occiput. 



The well-known harlequin duck (Cosmonetta histrionica) , of the 

 ar equ northern latitudes of both Hemispheres, belongs to an allied genus, 



distinguished by the larger size of the nail on the beak, the presence 

 of only fourteen feathers in the tail, and by the near equality in the length of the 

 first and second quills of the wing. The male is characterized b} r the general leaden 

 hue of its plumage, relieved by white markings on the head and white collars on 

 the lower neck and breast, as well as by the purple wing speculum; while the 

 female is grayish brown, with white patches on the head. In summer an inland 

 species associating in pairs, in winter the harlequin duck collects in flocks to fre- 

 quent sheltered bays and inlets on rocky coasts. It is an occasional straggler to 

 Britain, but is unknown on the Continent. 



Easily recognized by the great elongation of the two middle tail 

 The Long- feathers of the male, the long-tailed duck (Harelda gladalis) occupies 

 _ , in respect of this feature a position among the diving series analogous 



to that held by the pintail in the nondiving group. In both sexes the 

 beak is very short and tapering, with a large decurved nail at the tip, and subbasal 

 nostrils. The wings are rather short and pointed, the scapular feathers of the male 

 are lengthened, and the tail, which has fourteen feathers, is short and graduated in 

 the female. In the male bird, of which the length is from twenty-two to twenty- 

 six inches, the prevailing color of the head and neck in the ordinary dress is white, 

 with an oval brown patch on the sides of the latter; the breast, middle of the back, 

 rump, and middle tail feathers are black; the scapulars are striped with white, and 

 the remaining tail feathers and under parts pure white. The female is a more 

 sombre-colored bird, with the sides of the head white and those of the neck brown. 

 As its Latin name implies, the long-tailed duck is an essentially Arctic species, 

 ranging to the most northerly known lands of both hemispheres, and not generally 

 migrating very far south in winter, although it has been known to reach Northern 

 Italy. Not uncommon as a winter visitor to Britain, it regularly frequents at that 

 season the Caspian, Northern China, Japan, and the Northern United States. Found 



