62 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



Dr. S. C. Frederic took specimens on November 7, 1915. I 

 secured several, also, at Nigger Lake, November 30, 1915. 



General habits. — The ringneck, usually called "black duck" 

 on the Alabama coast, resembles the scaup ducks very closely 

 in general appearance, but may be distinguished by the bluish- 

 gray patch in the vising, which in the scaups is white. In 

 Mississippi Sound it associates with the scaup ducks, often in 

 large flocks, and is of very similar habits, feeding usually in 

 water of moderate depth. Its note, too, is similar — a low, 

 guttural croak. In the interior it lives much in shallow 

 ponds. 



Food habits. — Ten stomachs of this species from Alabama 

 have been examined and these show the food to consist of 

 the seeds and foliage of a variety of water plants, including 

 pondweeds (Najas and Potamogeton) , ditchgrass (Ruppia), 

 wild rice (Zizania), hornwort (CeratophyUum) , and purple 

 water-shield (Brasenia); also a few seeds of dogwood and 

 gum (Nyssa), small quantities of caddisfly larvae, and a con- 

 siderable proportion of snails. 



GOLDEN-EYE ; WHISTLER : Glaucionetta clangula ameri- 

 cana (Bonaparte) .J 



State records. — The golden-eye occurs in small numbers as a 

 winter visitant on the Gulf coast. In Mississippi Sound it is 

 reported at times to be fairly numerous. On Coffee Island, 

 near Coden, November 23, 1915, a single golden-eye came to 

 our decoys and was shot. The next day, and again on the 

 26th, one was seen near the same spot. The same day I saw 

 a pair out in the Sound, and on January 6, 1916, W. L. Bryant 

 killed 2 females, which he sent to the Biological Survey. Two 

 more specimens (male and female) taken by him near Coden, 

 January 26, 1916, are in the collection of the Department of 

 Archives and History at Montgomery. This species is re- 

 ported to occur occasionally in Mobile Bay. 



General habits. — This duck is commonly known as "whis- 

 tler," from the shrill noise produced by the wings in flight. 

 In its summer home in the North it lives about small inland 



^yfensmta cUnsmla americana of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name see 

 The Auk, vol. 87, p. 442, 1920. 



