534 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



336. White-eyed Duck [MOOEENTE]. 

 ANAS NYROCA, Guldenstadt. 



Anas nyroca. Naumann, xii. 41. 



White-eyed Duck. Dresser, vi. 581. 



Canard a iris blanc. Temminck, Manuel, ii. 876, iv. 546. 



About fifty years ago Oelrich Aeuckens once caught a male of 

 this species in his duck-net, since which time the bird has not 

 again been seen here; this is not surprising, as it belongs to 

 temperate and southern Europe, and also nests in north Africa. 



337. Golden Eye [SCHELLENTE]. 



ANAS CLANGULA, Linn. 2 



Heligolandish : Witt-sitted = White-sided. Female : Liigen-oog. Name, 

 the meaning of which cannot be traced. 



Anas clangula. Naumann, xii. 162. 



Golden Eye. Dresser, vi. 595. 



Canard garrot. Temminck, Mamid, ii. 870, iv. 550. 



This beautiful Duck is very numerously represented in Heligo- 

 land during severe winters, but it never congregates in such large 

 companies as, for instance, A. marila. The large majority of the 

 birds consists of brown-headed females and younger males. These 

 come nearer in to the island than the Scaups, and we may 

 see them quite close to the foot of the cliff', in smaller and 

 larger companies, busily and dexterously diving after their food. 

 They are also caught pretty frequently in the duck-nets, and it is 

 only owing to their remarkable astuteness that this does not happen 

 oftener. Thus, other species, females and young males of A. nigra, 

 A. fusca, and A. marila, on getting within the reach of a net during 

 their operations at the sea-bottom, in diving upwards allow them- 

 selves to float vertically towards the surface, and so get fast into the 

 net. The Golden Eyes, on the other hand, though they also with- 

 out the least shyness will advance right under the middle of the 

 net, in returning to the surface dive at first very carefully in an 

 oblique direction from underneath, until they are clear of the net, 

 and only then pass vertically upwards to the surface. It is most 

 entertaining to watch their artful manoeuvres from the cliff, and it 

 has always been a great enjoyment to me to sometimes get the 

 better of these cunning fellows in spite of all their stratagems. 

 Another favourite way of mine of hunting these Ducks was to 

 make a kind of stalk upon them, the modus operandi of which is 



1 Fidigula nyroca (Guldenstadt). 2 Clangula glaucion (Linn.). 



