622 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



In 1892, February 27, they were more abundant than any other 

 species, generally in flocks of 15 or 20. The first was shot in 1886, 

 March 14, and the first noted about March 8, 1894. It breeds from the 

 northern limits of the United States northward to Hudson Bay and 

 Alaska, and Mr. Nelson reports, upon Mr. DalPs authority, that it is 

 a winter resident in the Aleutian Islands. They arrive in the fall, 

 generally in November. 



They are usually quite shy and difficult to approach. Often the 

 hunter will try to approach a bunch of ducks, and suddenly, a few 

 Golden-eyes will arise from the flock, their whistling wings giving the 

 alarm to the rest of the company and telling the enemy of the game 

 that has flown. The whistling note made by their wings is characteris- 

 tic, and has given them the name "Whistler" and "Whistle-wing." 

 They are expert divers, and often, even after they are wounded, escape 

 by diving. 



45. (152). Glaucionetta islandica (GMEL.). 



Barrow's Golden-eye. 



Adult Male. Very similar to the preceding, differing chiefly in be- 

 ing larger in size; gloss of the head, purple and violet; loral spot 

 larger; white on the wing, divided by a dark bar; feathers on the hind- 

 head lengthened into a crest; bill blotched with red. Female. Can 

 probably not be distinguished from that of the preceding. 



Length, 21.00-23.00; wing, 9.00-9.40 (9.17); bill from tip to frontal 

 angle, 1.65-1.80 (1.75); depth at base, .95-110 (1.03); width, .75-.8S 

 (.81); width of nail, .35; tarsus, 1.50-1.60 (1.57). Female smaller. 



RANGE. North America; breeds from Gulf of St. Lawrence to 

 Greenland and Alaska, and south in Kocky Mountains. Colorado. 

 South in Winter to southern Indiana, Illinois, and that latitude. 



Nest and Eggs, similar to the last species. 



Rare visitor from the north in winter and spring. It has twice, at 

 least, been taken in this State. Dr. P. Stein took it on the lower 

 Wabash Eiver in Gibson County in 1874. (Bull. Nuttall. Orn. Club, 

 July, 1876, p. 41.) Prof. B. W. Evermann shot a female on Deer 

 Creek, near Camden, Carroll County, March 19, 1885. (The Auk, Oc- 

 tober, 1888, p. 347.) Dr. Brayton says it is a "winter resident on Lake 

 Michigan." Mr. P. M. Woodruff informs me that he shot two speci- 

 mens off Lincoln Park, Chicago ? on Lake Michigan, December 11, 

 1896, and Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., has a specimen taken at Fox Lake, 

 Illinois, January 2, 1889. We are about at the southeastern limit of 

 its range. 



