Brewer on the Rocky Mountain Golden-eye. 151 
in the vicinity of Fort Anderson. On the 14th of June, in the 
following year (1864), Mr. Macfarlane secured a fine male example 
at Fort Anderson. This individual had been in the habit of flying 
over the fort for several evenings in succession, and was, at length, 
secured on a small lake just behind the reservation. The female 
had her nest somewhere in the vicinity, but - eluded all their 
endeavors to discover the place. Mr. Macfarlane speaks of this 
species as the rarest of the Ducks that visit those parts. 
Mr. C. W. Sheperd, in his account of his visit to Iceland, 
mentions finding this Duck breeding on a small island in the Lake 
of My’Vatn, in the northern part of that island. The little islet 
was occupied exclusively by two species, this Golden-eye and the 
Mergus serrator. The soil was composed of broken lava, and both 
species were breeding in holes. Some of their nests were quite out 
of reach, in the cracks and crevices of the lava. The two species 
were living together on the most familiar terms. One female Mer- 
ganser was actually found sitting on a nest not her own, and which 
contained four eggs belonging to a Golden-eye ; the differences be- 
tween the eggs of the two species, being strongly marked, admitted 
of no possibility of confounding them. 
The habits of the Rocky Mountain Golden-eye essentially re- 
semble those of the more common species, but it is said by Holboll 
to be not so good a diver as that bird. It cannot dive in deeper 
water than the Harlequin, and is generally to be met with only on 
fjords. He also describes it as the most wary of all the Water-fowl, 
and it is with the greatest difficulty that one can approach within 
gunshot range of it. His collectors, in order to procure specimens, 
were compelled to conceal themselves near where it feeds, on nights 
when the moon gave light enough for them to see to shoot. In the 
spring it appeared in pairs, but flew so high that it was seldom shot. 
Two eggs of this species in the Smithsonian collection, from the 
Yukon, measure, one 2.40 x 1.60 inches, and the other 2.40 x 
1.70. Two others from Iceland, in the same collection, measure 
2.55 x 1.80, and 2.45 x 1.80. They are of a uniform deep 
grayish pea-green color. 
Dr. Kriiper (Naumannia, 1857, p. 40), states that in Iceland it 
commences breeding in May or early in June, and that eggs may be 
found until the middle of July. Its nest cannot be mistaken for 
that of any other Duck, as the down with which it is lined is pure 
white. The female sits so close that she may usually be captured on 
