608 
THE HARLEQUIN DUCK 
When near enough, and when turning, so that their sides are exposed, the gunners often kill 
great numbers before the mass of them have retreated. 
The sexes of this bird are quite varied, and the female is a trifle the smallest. 
The Golden-eye ( Clangula glaucium americana ), called also Whistle- wing, and Garrot, is 
found throughout all North America, Cuba, and Europe. The vigorous whistling of its wings 
readily distinguishes it. It swims and dives well, and is said to build nests in trees ; though, 
like the more maritime Ducks, it does not walk easily on land. The sexes are different in 
plumage. In size, the female is lesser ; the entire length of the male is nineteen inches, that of 
the female seventeen. 
The Golden-eye is especially abundant in South Carolina during the winter, where it 
resorts to the rice plantations. It also frequents the water-courses of Florida at the same 
season. It is shy and wary, preferring open bodies of water, as the wider open streams — the 
Ohio, and other great rivers. Audubon says, the whistling of the wings may be heard nearly 
a half a mile distant. He found a nest of this species in an old tree, and removed several eggs. 
Authors testify to this species inhabiting the fur countries, the Rocky Mountains, and along 
the northwest coast. The flesh is too fishy to be eatable. 
Few species of native Ducks are equal to this in a certain beauty. The bufile head of the 
male, with its rich, greenish -black plumage, and the golden irides, render the bird strikingly 
beautiful. 
The female is much plainer in plumage, and a trifle smaller. It has the same general 
coloration, but duller, and lacks the white cheek-spot. Great differences are seen among the 
species of Ducks as relate to the coloration of the sexes. In some there is a uniform plain, 
mottled plumage in the female, while the male is totally different, with rich, special colora- 
tion. In others, as in the present case, the coloration in the female is not far removed from 
that of the male ; in fact, being much like that of the young of the first year. 
The Golden-eye is not numerous on the coast, but is more common in the interior, on the 
large streams. Its flesh, as an edible, must depend greatly on the feeding, for some authors 
claim it is as good as the scaup Duck. In the fall, after feeding on “small stuff,.” it is fat, 
and quite desirable. 
Barrow’s Golden-eye ( Clangula islandica ) inhabits North America, south, as far as 
New York and Utah ; in Europe, occasionally. It probably breeds in the Rocky Mountains. 
Audubon took this species for the summer-plumaged Golden-eye, and other authors have 
doubted its validity as a species. There is now no doubt of its being distinct from the Ameri- 
can Golden-eye. 
The present species is called in the West, Rocky Mountain Garrot. It is a thoroughly 
northern bird, reaching south no farther than New York, and in the interior as far as Utah. 
Specimens have been taken in Massachusetts. 
The Butter-ball ( Clangula albeold) is like a miniature golden-eye, though the plumage 
differs in color. It inhabits North America, Cuba, and Mexico, and is accidental in Europe. 
It nests in Northern Dakota, and elsewhere in the United States. It is known as Spirit Duck 
in the Middle States, and Buffle-head, where, in the secluded creeks, it is abundant in the 
season, the autumn and winter. It is also called Butter Box, Marionette, Dipper, and Die 
Dipper. The flesh is not esteemed as a table delicacy. It is one of the smallest of Ducks, 
being only fourteen and a half inches in length, and twenty-three in extent of wing ; the 
female is a little less. About the same degree of difference is noticed between the sexes as in 
the golden-eye, the female having the general coloration, but some degrees less brilliant, and 
the white cheek-spots much less in size. 
This Duck is an excellent diver, its extreme celerity suggesting the title, Spirit Duck. It 
flies, also, with extraordinary velocity. The note is a short quack. 
The Harlequin Duck ( Histrionicus minutus) is now a rare bird in this country. In 
some parts of New England it is called Lord, or the pair, Lord and Lady, probably from the 
