THE AMERICAN GOLDENEYE, GLAUCIONETTA C. 



AMERICANA. 



ALLEN BROOKS. 



This duck, more commonly known as 

 " whistle wing," or " whistler," is one of 

 the best known of American ducks, and in 

 common with its near relative Barrow's 

 goldeneye, G. islandica, can always be iden- 

 tified by the loud musical whistling made 

 by the wings during flight. 



molested; in this respect differing from its 

 little congener the bufflehead. 



In Europe and Northern Asia a closely 

 allied form occurs, of which the American 

 form is a sub-species. 



Barrow's goldeneye also occurs in N. W. 

 Europe and Iceland. This species can al- 



AMERICAN GOLDENEYE. 



There is a tradition among the Indians 

 of the lower Fraser valley, that long ago 2 

 Indians had a dispute as to whether this 

 noise was made by the wings, or caused by 

 the air rushing through the nostrils. Others 

 joined in the discussion, and eventually the 

 whole tribe took sides on the question, and 

 it ended in a free fight in which the majority 

 of the contestants were killed. 



The males seem to make a much louder 

 whistling than the females, and the Ind- 

 ians point to their larger nostrils as sup- 

 porting the theory that the noise is made by 

 them. 



It is certainly a fact that the scoters, 

 which also have large nostrils, also make 

 a whistling noise when flying. 



The goldeneye is a rather wary duck and 

 is always on the qui vive, even when not 



ways be told by the crescent shaped spot in 

 front of the eyes, in the males; the females 

 of the 2 species being harder to distinguish. 

 There is much variation in the color of 

 the bills of the females, more so than in any 

 other duck. They can be found with black 

 bills, olive, black with an orange-yellow 

 terminal bar, and very rarely, pure orange- 

 yellow entirely. The olive and black bills 

 are the commonest, the former being gen- 

 erally found in young birds. 



The nest is in a hollow tree. In Scan- 

 dinavia the peasants put up boxes in which 

 the ducks nest, year after year, and are 

 systematically robbed of their eggs and 

 down; one egg being always left to keep 

 them laying. 



Their food is small shellfish and Crus- 

 tacea, together with the larva of aquatic in- 



