352 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS. 



sometimes placed among the rank vegetation near the margin of the water, but at 

 other times being a floating structure. The greenish grey eggs vary from eight to 

 twelve or even fourteen in number. Writing of the red-crested pochard, Mr. Hume 

 observes that he has " watched flocks of them, scores of times, diving for an hour at 

 a time, with a pertinacity and energy unsurpassed by any other wild-fowl. 

 Examine closely their favourite haunts, and you will find these to be almost invari- 

 ably just those waters in which they must dive for their food." Such haunts being- 

 deep broads where the beds of water- weed are several feet below the surface. 



Golden-Eye and The pretty ducks bearing these names, together with Barrow's 

 Buffei-Head. golden-eye (Clangula islandica) of North America, constitute a genus 

 characterised by the beak being much shorter than the head, and high and broad 

 at the base, but depressed at the tip, where it is covered by a rather small and 

 bent-down nail. The nostrils are situated near the middle of the beak, in which 

 the lamellae are concealed by the overlapping of the upper mandible. The wings 

 are pointed and rather short, with the first quill the longest ; and the tail of sixteen 

 feathers is rounded and of medium length. In the male the coloration is pied 

 black and white, while it is brown and white in the female. The golden-eye (C. 

 glauciori) takes its name from the golden-yellow hue of the iris, and the male may 

 be recognised by the metallic green of the head and upper neck, the white patch at 

 the base of the beak below the eye, and by the scapular region being striped with 

 white. This species, which measures from 16 to 19 inches in length, inhabits 

 Northern Europe and Asia, migrating south in winter ; and is represented by a 

 variety in North America. It always builds in holes in trees at a considerable 

 height above the ground. Of the American species, Barrow's golden-eye may be 

 distinguished by the white patch behind the beak extending to a point above the 

 level of the eye ; while in the smaller buffel-headed duck (C. albeola), which has 

 occasionally straggled across the Atlantic, the white patch on the head of the male 

 is placed behind the eye and extends right across the occiput. 

 Harie uin Duck ^^ we ^"^ nown harlequin duck (Cosmonetta histrionica), of the 



' northern latitudes of both hemispheres, belongs to an allied genus, 

 distinguished by the larger size of the nail on the beak, the presence of only 

 fourteen feathers in the tail, and by the near equality in the length of the first 

 and second quills of the wing. The male is characterised by the general leaden 

 hue of its plumage, relieved by white markings on the head and white collars on 

 the lower neck and breast, as well as by the purple wing-speculum ; while the 

 female is greyish brown, with white patches on the head. In summer an inland 

 species associating in pairs, in winter the harlequin duck collects in flocks to 

 frequent sheltered bays and inlets on rocky coasts. It is an occasional straggler to 

 Britain, but is unknown on the Continent. 



The Long-Tailed Easily recognised by the great elongation of the two middle tail- 

 Duck, feathers of the male, the long -tailed duck (Harelda glacialis) 

 occupies in respect of this feature a position among the diving series analogous to 

 that held by the pintail in the non-diving group. In both sexes the beak is very 

 short and tapering, with a large decurved nail at the tip, and sub-basal nostrils. 

 The wings are rather short and pointed; the scapular feathers of the male are 

 lengthened ; and the tail, which has fourteen feathers, is short and graduated in 



