436 
AN ATIDiE. 
eggs were those of the Golden Eye, which is said by 
Linnaeus to breed in trees, and is, I have no doubt, the 
bird spoken of by Acerbi, in his travels through Sweden, 
which he says breeds abundantly on the river Tornea, in 
boxes erected by the natives for the reception of its eggs, 
and which he calls the Goosander. In confirmation of 
my supposition, is the following information supplied to 
Mr. Yarrell by his correspondent, Mr. Dann:—“The Gol¬ 
den Eye is numerously spread over the whole of Lapland, 
as far as the wooded districts extend, both to the west¬ 
ward range of mountains which separate Norway from 
Sweden, as well as the eastern parts. It breeds in small 
numbers on the coast of Norway, but not from Stavanger 
northward, and on the Dofre Fiell mountains. It prefers 
rivers to lakes, particularly the neighbourhood of falls and 
rapids. The Laps and Settlers place boxes with an en¬ 
trance-hole in the trees on the banks of the rivers and 
lakes, in which the Golden Eye lays its eggs. Although 
the birds are always robbed of their eggs, they gain no¬ 
thing by experience, but seem to have such a predilection 
for holes in trees, that if such cavities are to be found, 
artificial or natural, they always appear to prefer them to 
any other locality/' 
The eggs of the Golden Eye which we obtained, were 
several degrees of latitude nearer the pole than the boun¬ 
dary mentioned by Mr. Dann as the northern limit to the 
range of the species on the coast of Norway, during the 
breeding-season. 
The eggs of this species are of a much deeper and 
brighter colour than those of any of the duck-tribe 
which I have seen, with the exception of those of the 
king duck, which I have figured ; and I may here men¬ 
tion, that Mr. Hancock has eggs of the eider duck which 
are quite as blue. 
