608 THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



When near enough, and when turning, so that their sides are exposed, the gunners often kill 

 gi'eat numbers before the mass of them have retreated. 



The sexes of this bird are quite varied, and the female is a triiie the smallest. 



The Golden -eye (Glangula glaucium, americana), called also Whistle- wing, and Garrot, is 

 found throughout all North America, Cuba, and Em'o])e. The vigorous whistling of its wings 

 I'eadily distinguishes it. It swims and dives well, and is said to build nests in trees ; though, 

 like the more maritime Dxxcks, it does not walk easily on land. The sexes are different in 

 plumage. In size, the female is lesser ; the entire length of the male is nineteen inches, that of 

 the female seventeen. 



The Golden-eye is especially abundant in South Carolina during the winter, where it 

 resorts to the rice plantations. It also frequents the water-courses of Florida at the same 

 season. It is shy and wary, preferring open bodies of water, as the wider open sti'eams — the 

 Ohio, and other great rivers. Audubon says, the whistling of the wings may be heard nearly 

 a half a mile distant. He found a nest of this species in an old tree, and removed several eggs. 

 Authors testify to this species inhabiting the fur countries, the Rocky Mountains, and along 

 the northwest coast. The flesh is too tishy to be eatable. 



Few species of native Ducks are equal to this in a certain beauty. The buffle head of the 

 male, with its rich, greenish -black plumage, and the golden irides, render the bird strikingly 

 beautiful. 



The female is much plainer in plumage, and a trifle smaller. It has the same general 

 coloration, but duller, and lacks the white cheek-spot. Great differences are seen among the 

 species of Ducks as I'elate to the coloration of the sexes. In some there is a uniform plain, 

 mottled plumage in the female, while the male is totally different, with rich, special colora- 

 tion. In others, as in the present case, the coloration in the female is not far removed from 

 that of the male ; in fact, being much like that of the young of the first year. 



The Golden-eye is not numerous on the coast, but is more common in the interior, on the 

 large streams. Its flesh, as an edible, must depend greatly on the feeding, for some authors 

 claim it is as good as the scaup Duck. In the fall, after feeding on "smaU stuff," it is fat, 

 and quite desirable. 



Barrow's Golden-eye (Clangula islandica) inhabits North America, south, as far as 

 New York and Utah ; in Europe, occasionally. It prol)ably breeds in the Rocky Mountains. 

 Audubon took this species for the summer-plumaged Golden-eye, and other authors have 

 doubted its validity as a species. There is now no doubt of its being distinct from the Ameri- 

 can Golden-eye. 



The present species is called in the West, Rocky Mountain Garrot. It is a thoroiaghly 

 northern bird, reaching south no farther than New York, and in the interior as far as Utah. 

 Specimens have been taken in Massachusetts. 



The Butter-ball {Clangula albeola) is like a miniature golden-eye, though the plumage 

 differs in color. It inhabits North America, Cuba, and Mexico, and is accidental in Europe. 

 It nests in Northern Dakota, and elsewhere in the United States. It is known as Spirit Duck 

 in the Middle States, and Buffle-head, where, in the secluded creeks, it is abundant in the 

 season, the autumn and winter. It is also called Butter Box, Marionette, Dipper, and Die 

 Dipper. The flesh is not esteemed as a table delicacy. It is one of the smallest of Ducks, 

 l)eiiig only fourteen and a half inches in lengtli, and twenty-three in extent of wing ; the 

 female is a little less. About the same degree of difference is noticed between the sexes as in 

 the golden-eye, the female having the general coloration, but some degrees less brilliant, and 

 the white cheek-spots much less in size. 



This Duck is an excellent diver, its extreme celerity suggesting the title, Spirit Duck. It 

 flies, also, with extraordinary velocity. The note is a short qaaclc. 



The Harlequin Duck {Histrionicus minutus) is now a rare bird in this country. In 

 some parts of New England it is called Lord, or the pair. Lord and Lady, probably from the 



