148 The IVater-fowl Family 



guished by the height of the maxilla as compared with the dis- 

 tance from the feathered edge at base of the bill to the anterior 

 edge of nostril. In the female Barrow's golden-eye these 

 measurements should be equal. 



Downy young — Top and sides of head, brown; neck, chest, and 

 sides, pale ; throat and under parts, white. 



Eggs — Six to ten in number, grayish pea-green in color, and meas- 

 ure 2.40 by 1.60 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from Quebec and Washington, the mountains 

 of Oregon, south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, north 

 to Chilkat Peninsula, Alaska, Fort Anderson, and southern 

 Greenland, and in Iceland. Winters chiefly north of the United 

 States, from southern Greenland and southeastern Alaska, rarely 

 to North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, South 

 Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and California. Acci- 

 dental in Europe. 



The Barrow's golden-eye is one of our rarer 

 ducks. The full-plumaged male is a showy bird, 

 the soft steel-blue sheen of his crest and the 

 bright black and white of the back being a 

 marked contrast to the brown and white of his 

 mate. This bird ranges from Arctic America to 

 the northern border of the United States and 

 breeds throughout these limits. We see the 

 Barrow's golden-eye among the lakes and rivers 

 of the Rocky Mountains, from Colorado north 

 through British Columbia to Alaska. The breed- 

 ing-ground is often in mountainous districts, the 

 bird choosing the hollow of a tree near some 

 stream or lake for its nesting-place. In the 

 writer's collection a set of eggs from Iceland 

 bears the following label: " Myvatis, June 23, 



