350 
SWIMMERS. 
in silence, and we then only hear, instead of a cry or a quack, 
the very perceptible and noisy whistling of their short and 
laboring wings, for which reason they are here sometimes called 
by our gunners the Brass-eyed Whistlers. In their native haunts 
they are by no means shy, allowing the sportsman to make a 
near approach, as if conscious at the same time of their impu- 
nity from ordinary peril, for no sooner do they perceive the flash 
of the gun or hear the twang of the bow, than they dive with 
a dexterity which sets the sportsman at defiance, and they 
continue it so long and with such remarkable success that 
the aboriginal natives have nicknamed them as conjuring or 
“ Spirit Ducks.” 
Ihe food of the Golden-eye, for which it is often seen 
diving, consists of shell-fish, fry, small reptiles, insects, small 
Crustacea, and tender marine plants. In and near fresh waters 
it feeds on fluviatile vegetables, such as the roots of Equise- 
tutn and the seeds of some species of Polygonum. Its flesh, 
particularly that of the young, is generally well flavored, though 
inferior to that of several other kinds of Ducks. 
In Murope these birds descend in their migrations to the 
South along the coasts of the ocean as far as Italy, where they 
are known by the name of Quattr' Occhi, or “ Four Eyes,” from 
the two round and white spots placed near the corners of the 
bill, which at a distance give almost the appearance of two 
additional eyes. They likewise pass into the central parts of 
the Continent, and visit the great lakes of Switzerland. They 
are equally common, at the same season, in most parts of the 
United States, as far probably as the e.xtremity of the Union, 
and early in spring they are again seen in Missouri and on 
the wide bosom of the Mississippi, preparing to depart for their 
natal regions in the North. 'I'hough they fly with vigor, from 
the shortness of their legs and the ampleness of the webs of 
their feet, the Clangulas walk badly and with pain ; they ad- 
vance only by jerks, and strike the ground so strongly with 
their broad feet that each step produces a noise like the slap- 
ping of the hands ; the wings are also extended to retain an 
equilibrium, and if hurried, the awkward bird falls on its breast 
