DUCKS AND GEESE 75 



center of its breeding range. Unlike the scaup, it is never 

 seen in large flocks, seldom in companies of above a dozen 

 or twenty individuals; it shuns the open water, so much 

 frequented by the blue-bills. In flight the individuals of a 

 flock scatter widely, and they are likely to become still 

 further separated as they feed in the rushes and deeper 

 growth of the swamp. Here they subsist upon crayfish, 

 snails, frogs, insects, and the various sorts of seeds which 

 drop into the Avater from overhanging vegetation. 



"When surprised, the ring-neck rises upon softly whis- 

 tling wings, and beats a rapid retreat, while you notice the 

 loose occipital feathers, ruffled by fear into a bushy crest, 

 and observe that there is no white on the head to cause con- 

 fusion with other crested species." 



GOLDEN-EYE 



The Golden-eye, or "Whistler," and decidedly a deep- 

 water fowl, is a common winter resident on the Great Lakes 

 and in the larger rivers. It occurs from coast to coast, but 

 the Barrow's golden-eye chiefly replaces this form from the 

 Rocky Mountains westward. A flock of golden-eye travel- 

 ing with the wind at eighty miles an hour produces a sound 

 with their wings from which the bird derives the name whis- 

 tler. Feeding almost entirely on fish, they are not so good 

 eating as are most ducks. These birds are expert divers, 

 and sometimes are caught in nets which have been lowered 

 into five fathoms of water. 



During the spring, the golden-eyes retreat to the tim- 

 bered lakes, near which each female selects a hollow tree. 



