LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. . 425. 
rarely in old ones, and certainly in this, the only female I have 
yet seen, it did occur. 
In this specimen the brown of the head was much darker, 
the white of the neck purer, and the grey of the breast darker 
than in the female figured in the “ Game Birps.” 
You mention having received one specimen of an adult 
male proctired near Lucknow by Dr. Bonavia, but I believe 
this is the first recorded instance of the female Golden Eye 
being procured (and preserved) within the limits of the British 
Asian Empire. 
R. N. Stoxer. 
~ P.S.—Since this was written I have shot another Golden 
Eye, a bird of the year. It was much duller colored than the. 
first (I send both so you can see for yourself). The feet were 
a dark blackish yellow with ashy webs ; the bill had a yellow 
band, but a very dull one, and the nail was yellowish with black 
spots. The head was more ashy than in the first, and the 
irides were a paler yellow. <A third bird, precisely like this 
second, was shot about the same time by an officer here; but 
hitherto the drake has evaded all our attempts to assassinate 
lim 
_ I showed the first bird to a very intelligent native at Ghazi, 
and he assured me that they appear there « every year regularly, 
and that three years ago he shot one. I am certain now that I 
shot a duck of this species here some three years ago. It 
puzzled me at the time, but now I have no doubt what it was. 
R. N.S, : 
Sir, 
Since I last wrote, I have succeeded in procuring a 
fine Drake Golden Eye, which I am sending you. 
| There were four of them together on a little stream opposite 
the village of Hasanpore. 
The natives call them “ Burgee,’ the “bur’’ pronounced as 
in “burrow.” Burgee I believe only means patches of black 
and white. 
Mr. Barlow informs me that these ducks come to Ghazi 
every winter. 
. This Drake measured: Length, 17°42; expanse, 30:5; tail, 
4°42; wing, 9:0; tarsus, : bill from. gape, 2°08. 
Weall said what a heavy bird, but it only weighed 1 Ib. 10 ozs., 
which is 6 ozs. less than the lightest weight given by you for 
an adult male.* 
“. I dare say my weights are wrong, as I'mention in the text of the “Gams 
Brups”’ I have not recorded particulars of fresh birds; I merely .copied the figures 
from others. - 
54 
