194 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



that the word " Curre " is applied locally to other 

 birds of the genus Fuligula, and I may be mistaken 

 as to the derivation of the name. I have met with 

 this species in many parts of the Mediterranean 

 countries ; it was abundant on the great lagoon of 

 Tunis in November, and I have seen large numbers 

 on the brackish lakes of the island of Sardinia. The 

 eggs, which are of a dull green colour, average in 

 number from seven to ten ; the young, when recently 

 hatched, are very remarkable objects, their long 

 smoky-coloured down, their squat shape, and their 

 brilliant golden-yellow irides producing a combination 

 that is grotesque in the extreme. This bird is by no 

 means shy in comparison with many other wild-fowl, 

 and shares with the Pochard the propensity for flying 

 along the course of a stream, to which I have alluded 

 in my article on that species. These diving-fowl 

 are seldom taken in ordinary decoys, but the subject 

 of duck-decoys has been so fully and so admirably 

 treated of by Yarrell, Lubbock, Sir R. Payne Gallwey, 

 and other writers, that I refrain from going into any 

 details on a matter with which I have little personal 

 acquaintance. 



191. GOLDEN-EYE. 



Fuligula clanyula. 



Few autumns pass without a visit from some of 

 this species to the Nen in the neighbourhood of 

 Lilford ; these visitors are generally immature birds 

 which drop in singly, or in small companies ; five is 

 the greatest number that I have seen together on our 

 river. The adult Golden-Eyes seldom favour us 



