BUOEPHALA ISLANDICA. 
BARROWS’ GOLDEN EYE. 
ANAS ISLANDICA. Gmel. Syst. Nat.,. Vol. I. (1788), p. 541. 
OLANGULA BAROYII. Sw. & Rich. Faun. Bor. Amer. (1831), p. 456, pt. LXX. 
BUOEPHALA ISLANDICA. Baird. B. of N. Amer., p. 796. 
This handsome duck is a native of the colder portions of our continent, rarely coming to the southward of the river St. 
Lawrence. It hears a general resemblance to the common Golden Eye, but is very easily distinguished from it by its color and 
markings. It, as its name implies, is a native of Iceland, and is also found in the Arctic regions of the Old World. 
I have met with Barrows’ Golden Eye several times, when- shooting on the St. Lawrence in the vicinity of Ogdensburgh, and 
the pair from which my plate was made, w T ere procured on one of those occasions. The small bill (particularly observable in the 
female), high at its base, the crescent-shaped white mark before the eye, the black bar on the wing, and the rich purple gloss of 
the head, are some of the characters found in the male which may serve to distinguish it from its relative. 
Although, so far as I am aware, the habits of the two species are identical, yet the present one did not seem to associate 
with the Common Golden Eye on the occasions when I had an opportunity of observing them ; but kept in small flocks by itself 
of from three to six individuals, and I never knew of this bird coming into the decoys in company with the other species, I 
I have watched them when, on a warm day in the early spring, a male and female having alighted just outside of my line of decoys, 
I would leave them unmolested to watch their movements. After swimming quietly about, as I have represented them in the plate, 
with their heads drawn close to their bodies, the male, turning suddenly towards his mate, and straightening himself, would raise 
his bill until it was vertical, open wide his mouth, then drop it again, and puff out the feathers ol his head, which fairly shone in 
the bright rays of the morning sun. This movement he would repeat several times in succession, all the time drawing closer to 
his shy mate, who receded as he advanced. In this way he endeavored to convince her of his affection, and during nearly the whole 
time they remained in my vicinity, the male would occupy himself in going through these curious movements. 
This species is very expert at diving, disappearing beneath the water instantly, remaining under the surface for a considerable 
period ; and it is next to impossible to recover one which may have been wounded. I have known them at such times, where the 
water was not very deep, to dive and hold on to the grass which grew on the bottom until life was extinct. 
Like its relative, the Barrows’ Golden Eye makes a shrill, whistling sound when flying, caused by the rapid movements of the 
wings, by which the bird’s approach may be discovered, when it is still at a considerable distance. 
About the beginning of May, they commence their journey to the far north, where amid the eternal solitudes of the ice-bound 
coasts, they breed and rear their young, returning again to comparatively milder climes in the months of September and October. The 
members of this genus make their nests in the hollow of some tree, the eggs being imbedded in the down plucked from the breast of 
the female, and the young are carried to the 'water in her bill. The flesh of this duck is generally fishy and unfit to eat, although 
when it has been living for some time in fresh water and feeding upon such food a3 it may find there, it becomes more palatable, and 
loses to a great degree its disagreeable taste. 
The male Bucephala Islandica has the head and neck of a rich purplish violet; a crescent-shaped white patch before the eye, 
running the entire side of the bill. Under parts pure white. Upper parts and flanks black. Wings black, the greater coverts tipped 
with white; secondaries white. Anterior scapulars white edged with black, the posterior ones black with a white central streak. Bill 
black ; feet and tarsi orange ; webs black. 
Female: Head and neck dark brown; upper parts very dark brown. A white ring round the neck; upper parts of breast and 
flanks light brown, blotched with a deeper shade of the same color. Wings blackish, secondaries white, as in the male. Bill lighter 
than in the male, orange at the tips— this color sometimes extending over nearly the entire bill. Feet and tarsi orange. 
The figure of the male is life-size, that of the female reduced to about half the natural dimensions. 
