MORE OF THE WILD DUCK FAMILY 233 



land they are, as one of my friends remarked, "not 

 quite so slippy." My own acquaintance with this 

 handsome fowl was made in the creeks running up 

 from open water ; but since that time I have seen 

 specimens which had been procured well inland. As 

 the Golden-Eyes are now known to have a preference 

 for fresh waters in certain localities, their appearance, 

 one at a time as a rule, on secluded pieces of water, 

 fringed round with heather and sheltered by fir 

 trees, is not to be wondered at. Why they should 

 have been so eagerly sought for by all the gunners 

 of my native fore-shores I riever knew ; and I am 

 quite certain that now I never shall know the 

 reason. But they were thought a great deal of, and 

 if one of the lads brought the news up " thet one o' 

 them Magpie Divers was in the crick," there was 

 sure to be a general adjournment of the shooting 

 members of the community, as each man would slope 

 off under some pretext or other with the intention 

 of trying to get the bird. 



That rare bird the Buffle-headed Duck, also 

 called the Marionette, Spirit Duck, and Harlequin 

 (because of the extreme rapidity of its movements), 

 is smaller than the Golden-Eye, measuring only 

 fifteen inches from bill to tail. The general arrange- 

 ment of the plumage is in black and white, with 

 deep green and purple reflections. This was the 

 " little Magpie Diver " of the shooters and fishermen. 

 I know that he is now considered to be an extremely 

 rare bird ; but judging by the above homely title, I 

 think the men must have noticed it in past years ; 



