THE GOLDEN-EYE 329 



dark brown ; the upper parts freckled with lighter 

 brown and gray ; the belly dirty white ; the bill 

 lead-coloured. The length of this bird is eighteen 

 inches. The head of the young male does not 

 attain to a full glossy-black until over three years 

 of age. 



The golden-eye, one of the handsomest and 

 smartest of the family to which it belongs, is to 

 be found on most of our coasts during the winter. 

 According to Yarrell, the adult male birds are less 

 numerous than the females and young birds of the 

 year; they at times frequent the estuaries and rivers 

 near the sea, and are occasionally procured both 

 in decoys and by gunners on inland waters. The 

 same authority states that this bird is a regular 

 visitor to Ireland during the winter months. As 

 its name implies, the eye is of a golden yellow. 

 Colonel Irby thus sufficiently describes its plumage: 



* Male. Head and neck glossy green ; feathers 

 on crown slightly lengthened ; small white spot at 

 base of bill ; scapulars white ; wing-spot white. 

 The breast and belly are white. 



* Female and Yoimg Male. Head and neck ash- 



<*> 



brown ; no white spot on head ; wing-spot white, 

 divided by a black line. The length of the adult 

 male is from sixteen to nineteen inches.' 



I have often seen these birds exposed for 

 sale in the poulterers' shops, and numbers of 

 them are taken in the wild-fowlers' nets on the 

 East coast. Bewick, in his * Water - Birds,' 

 gives a description of a variety of duck which 



