35 2 
FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS. 
sometimes placed among the rank vegetation near the margin of the water, but at 
other times being a floating structure. The greenish grey eggs vary from eight fc 
twelve or even fourteen in number. Writing of the red-crested pochard, Mr. Hume 
observes that he has “ watched flocks of them, scores of times, diving for an hour at 
a time, with a pertinacity and energy unsurpassed by any other wild-fowl. 
Examine closely their favourite haunts, and you will find these to be almost invari¬ 
ably just those waters in which they must dive for their food.” Such haunts being- 
deep broads where the beds of water-weed are several feet below the surface. 
Goiden-Eye and The pretty ducks bearing these names, together with Barrow’s 
Buffei-Head. golden-eye ( Clangula islandica ) of North America, constitute a genus 
characterised by the beak being much shorter than the head, and high and broad 
at the base, but depressed at the tip, where it is covered by a rather small and 
bent-down nail. The nostrils are situated near the middle of the beak, in which 
the lamella} are concealed by the overlapping of the upper mandible. The wings 
are pointed and rather short, with the first quill the longest; and the tail of sixteen 
feathers is rounded and of medium length. In the male the coloration is pied 
black and white, while it is brown and white in the female. The golden-eye ( C . 
glaucion) takes its name from the golden-yellow hue of the iris, and the male may 
be recognised by the metallic green of the head and upper neck, the white patch at 
the base of the beak below the eye, and by the scapular region being striped with 
white. This species, which measures from 16 to 19 inches in length, inhabits 
Northern Europe and Asia, migrating south in winter; and is represented by a 
variety in North America. It always builds in holes in trees at a considerable 
height above the ground. Of the American species, Barrow’s golden-eye may be 
distinguished by the white patch behind the beak extending to a point above the 
level of the eye; while in the smaller buftel-headed duck (C. albeolci), which has 
occasionally straggled across the Atlantic, the white patch on the head of the male 
is placed behind the eye and extends right across the occiput. 
The well-known harlequin duck ( Cosmonetta histrionica), of the 
northern latitudes of both hemispheres, belongs to an allied genus, 
distinguished by the larger size of the nail on the beak, the presence of only 
fourteen feathers in the tail, and by the near equality in the length of the first 
and second quills of the wing. The male is characterised by the general leaden 
hue of its plumage, relieved by white markings on the head and white collars on 
the lower neck and breast, as well as by the purple wing-speculum; while the 
female is greyish brown, with white patches on the head. In summer an inland 
species associating in pairs, in winter the harlequin duck collects in flocks to 
frequent sheltered bays and inlets on rocky coasts. It is an occasional straggler to 
Britain, but is unknown on the Continent. 
The Long-Tailed Easily recognised by the great elongation of the two middle tail- 
Diiek. feathers of the male, the long - tailed duck ( Hcirelda glacialis ) 
occupies in respect of this feature a position among the diving series analogous to 
that held by the pintail in the non-diving group. In both sexes the beak is very 
short and tapering, with a large decurved nail at the tip, and sub-basal nostrils. 
The wings are rather short and pointed; the scapular feathers of the male are 
lengthened; and the tail, which has fourteen feathers, is short and graduated in 
Harlequin-Duck. 
