J 58 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



at the mouth of the Pregel and Nieraen, in East Prussia. It is very common 

 on the Swiss and Italian lakes, in February and March. Colonel Irby says 

 they rarely occur about the Straits of Gibraltar in winter. An adult male was 

 seen by him when on board Lord Lilford's yacht Zara, at Santander, in Northern 

 Spain, on December 3rd, 1876. According to Mr. Whitehead, (" Ibis," 85, 

 p. 46), a single female was seen in Corsica, in December and February, and a 

 few males in parties of four to eight. Mr. Howard Saunders met with it in the 

 Malaga market in January, and there is a specimen in the Lisbon Museum. 



The Goldeneye does not visit Egypt in winter, but it is common in Turkey, 

 also in Asia Minor and the Black Sea. In Turkestan in winter and also on 

 migration. Very rare in India ; common in China and Japan, and one was obtained 

 at Foochow. These Ducks will stick most pertinaciously to open waters, such as 

 pools below water-falls, rapids, and mill-races, when all other Ducks have been 

 driven away by the inclemency of the season ; the Goldeneye was found on the 

 Upper Kashgar Darja, early in December, (" Ibis," 85, p. 358). 



The Goldeneye is a common species on the North American Continent, nesting 

 north of the great lakes and across British territory as far as Alaska. Attempts 

 have been made, but unsuccessfully, to separate the American and European bird. 

 The only difference, however, seems to be that the American is rather the larger of 

 the two, but this character is not one to be relied on, a large series of skins 

 shewing that the two intergrade. Dr. Hatch thinks that a few may remain to 

 nest south of the Great Lakes, but, as far as I know, there is no authentic instance 

 of the nest and eggs having been found. The common name amongst American 

 sportsmen is the " Whistler." 



The Goldeueye never nests on the ground, but in the hole of a tree, or on 

 the stump ; in Lapland and the North of Europe the natives take advantage of 

 this habit, and fix boxes and small tubs in trees to encourage them to nest. The 

 eggs are considered a great delicacy ; they vary much in colour and size, and are 

 exceedingly handsome, a bright bluish-green, the down in which they are buried 

 is lavender- grey, a little lighter in the centre. Although repeatedly robbed of its 

 eggs, Goldeneyes will return to the same place. Wheelwright says the old settlers 

 in Lapland, who watch the habits of the birds closely, aver that the old birds lay 

 the fewest, finest, and largest eggs, and this is rarely more than five ; on the other 

 hand a young bird will lay fifteen. 



Barrow's Goldeneye, (Fuligula islandica), an American species, meets Clangula 

 glaucion in Iceland, where both breed, but the American is much the commonest 

 of the two. It may be distinguished by its size, purplish gloss on the head, and 

 the large white crescent-shaped spot between the bill and eye. It has never been 



