322 BUCEPHALA CLANGULA 



ening dives are apparently characteristic of the Golden-eye and enable them to 

 terrify all other species except the Smew. 



Blaauw (1909) was perhaps the first to breed them in confinement. After keeping 

 a pair for six or seven years the female was one May day seen frequenting some of 

 the nesting-boxes set on poles in different parts of the pond, and in the latter half of 

 the month two eggs were found in one box and three in another box. As she showed 

 no disposition to incubate, being perhaps disturbed by the Carolina Ducks which 

 laid in the same boxes, three of the eggs were placed under a hen and were duly 

 hatched on the 26th of June. One of these young died the first day, but the 

 two others were reared to maturity. These downy young were very tame and 

 intelligent, living principally on ant larvae and duck-weed. On July 18 feathers 

 became visible on the shoulders, and by August 8 the birds were completely 

 feathered on their bodies, although the flight feathers had just begun to grow. On 

 the 25th of August they were able to fly (nearly nine weeks) and at that time they 

 were practically full grown. Mr. Blaauw told me that the young which he reared in 

 later years by letting the mother duck have her own eggs were very troublesome, 

 and immediately scattered and got lost. They did not seem to care about staying 

 with the old one. 



Mr. Job found that those he hatched from wild-gathered eggs were very wild and 

 restless and for the first few days gave a good deal of trouble by scaling fences, es- 

 pecially wooden posts. 



They have been quoted at £2 to £3 a pair in England, but hand-reared stock is 

 worth much more than that. The New York Gardens have bought them for as little 

 as $6.00 each, but these, of course, were wild-caught birds, most likely cripples. 



When once used to captive life these ducks will live on ordinary vegetable food 

 (grains, etc.) but they require occasional small fish, shrimps or raw meat. Natural 

 food like fresh-water mollusks would, of course, be preferable, but where many ducks 

 are kept these soon become exhausted. 



Hybrids. In the wild state the Golden-eye crosses most commonly with the 

 Smew, and these hybrids have been described as Mergus anatarius (Eimbeck, 1831) 

 and Clangula mergoides (Kjarbolling, 1853). In addition, wild hybrids between the 

 Golden-eye and the following species have been taken: Goosander, Hooded Mer- 

 ganser, Velvet Scoter, Scaup and Common Pochard (Poll, 1911). Yarrell (1884-85) 

 says that Geoffroy St. Hilaire described a cross between the Golden-eye and the 

 American Carolina Duck! 



In captivity a male Golden-eye and a female Tufted Duck have been successfully 

 crossed and the offspring reared (Astley, 1921). 



So far as I know there have never been any hybrids with Barrow's Golden-eye 

 discovered. 



