378 



Richard Lubbock, who is well acquainted with the ex- 

 tensive waters near Yarmouth visited by numerous birds, 

 I believe that other examples of the BufFel-headed Duck 

 have been seen in winter in that country, but the bird is 

 very shy, and from its power of diving very difficult to 

 get at. The boat-shooters Jthere, or some of them at least, 

 call this bird the true Morillon ; they are well acquainted 

 with the Golden Eye, or Rattle-wings, as they call it in 

 every state of its plumage, and therefore, very properly, 

 consider their Morillon (this BufFel-headed Duck) as dis- 

 tinct from the Golden Eye. 



In the autumn of 1841 Mr. Mummery, the curator of 

 the Museum of Natural History at Margate, sent me word 

 that during a visit to Orkney, from which he had then but 

 recently returned, he had there obtained a Buffel-headed 

 Duck, which was intended for the Margate Museum. 



This species is well known to the naturalists of North 

 America, and to their histories we must refer for an account 

 of its habits. Mr. Audubon says " that during autumn and 

 winter it is to be seen in almost every part of the Union, 

 frequenting the sea-shore, rivers, and lakes. It feeds on 

 shell-fish, shrimps, and marine plants, particularly the 

 species of laver named Ulva lactuca, and the bird being 

 generally very fat, one of its common names is Butter- 

 box ; it is also called Spirit Duck, and Conjuror, from 

 the facility with which it escapes by diving suddenly at the 

 flash of a gun, or the twang of a bowstring. The Buffel- 

 headed Duck is a very hardy bird, for it remains during 

 extremely cold weather on the Ohio, when the river is 

 thickly covered with floating ice, among which it is seen 

 diving almost constantly in search of food. When the 

 river is frozen over they seek the head waters of the rapid 

 streams, in the turbulent eddies of which they find abund- 

 ance of prey. Possessed of a feeling of security arising 



