GOLDEN-EYE.
Misled by the variations of colour, due to age, sex, or season, in this species, Linnæus described different examples of it under the names of Anas clangula and A. glaucion; whilst even in our own day the females and immature birds are known as “Morillons,” and regarded as distinct from the much-rarer adult males or “Golden-Eyes,” which are locally termed “Rattle wings” or “Whistlers” from the noise produced by the wings during flight. The Golden-Eye forms the type of the well-marked genus Clangula of Fleming and of Boie, and is known to most modern ornithologists as C. glaucion. The male is a singularly striking and beautiful bird, with the general colour of the upper parts black, shot with metallic-green tints on the head, which is adorned with a small, yet distinct, drooping crest; with a large white patch at the base of the bill under each eye, and with the drooping, elongated scapulars, and the underparts, white. The female is much less conspicuous, the black being replaced by dark brown, the elongated scapulars are wanting, and the spot under the eyes only faintly indicated. The white double alar speculum is, however, very strongly marked in both sexes. The Golden-Eye is certainly more addicted to fresh-water than the sea, and in most cases only quits these inland lakes and ponds, when continued frost compels it to do so. It then prefers such coasts as are low-lying, especially delighting in estuaries. It usually arrives in the British Islands in October, and remains in them until the following April or May. It is not so gregarious as some of the other Ducks, and generally assembles in parties rather than in flocks, the larger gatherings being caused by exceptional circumstances. Its habits very closely resemble those of allied birds. It is seldom seen on the land, and there walks with the waddling gait peculiar to most Ducks; on the water, however, it is active and graceful enough, swimming well, and diving with great celerity, usually seeking by this means to escape from danger. The note of this Duck is a low croaking kurr, uttered both when the bird is flying and when at rest. Its food consists of crustaceans, molluscs, small fishes, and various water plants and weeds. Most of this is obtained by diving; and whilst a flock of birds is feeding, several individuals keep watch, all never diving together.
The evidence for this Duck having bred in Scotland, is neither reliable nor conclusive. The Golden-eye breeds throughout the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America, up to the limits of the growth of trees: its winter range extends to the tropics. It retires to its northern summer haunts with the first signs of spring. The favourite breeding resorts of this Duck are tracts of more open forest country, where the woods are full of swamps and lakes, and the timber contains plenty of holes. The nest is usually made in a hollow tree, in a hole in the trunk, or in a hollow branch, sometimes as many as thirty feet from the ground; whilst the partiality of the bird for a tree near a waterfall, or running stream, has been noticed by more than one observer. The nest consists entirely of the down plucked from the female’s body. The ten or twelve eggs are laid in May or June, and are bright green in colour. The nest-hole is never made by the Duck itself. The peasants of Northern Scandinavia place hollow logs in suitable places on the tree-trunks, which the Golden-Eyes appear readily to avail themselves of, and from which the eggs and down are systematically taken. The young are conveyed to the ground, one by one, pressed between the female’s bill and her breast. The male is not known to assist in the task of incubation, but may possibly do so.
LONG-TAILED DUCK.
This beautiful and remarkably elegant species, the Anas glacialis of Linnæus, and the Fuligula or Harelda glacialis of modern writers, is another winter visitor to the British seas. It is only of somewhat rare occurrence in our southern waters, but northwards, off the Scotch coasts, it becomes more frequent, and in certain localities—notably the Hebrides, and the Orkneys and Shetlands—even abundant. In the latter islands it is locally known as the “Calloo”; in other parts of Scotland the clear, gabbling cry of this Duck has been freely translated into the words “coal-an’-can’le-licht.” To many American gunners the bird is known as “Old Squaw,” from its oft-repeated cries. The male bird is singularly graceful in appearance, his long, black central tail feathers projecting five inches beyond the remaining white ones. The head and neck are white, but on either side, below the ears, is a dark brown circular patch; the gorget and the upper parts generally are black, against which, however, the long, elongated white scapulars are very conspicuous; the underparts, below the gorget, are white. The female is much less showy, the black parts in the male being dark brown in this sex, and the white parts are suffused with brown; the elongated scapulars are wanting. During exceptionally severe weather the Long-tailed Duck sometimes approaches our coasts in unusual numbers, and in districts where it is generally a scarce bird. This Duck is a late migrant, seldom reaching even our most northerly coasts before November. It returns north in April. It is strictly marine in its haunts during winter, often wandering long distances from land, and approaching the shore usually under pressure of stormy weather. Then it shows a decided preference for rock-bound coasts, frequenting the creeks and inlets which afford a considerable amount of shelter. The Long-tailed Duck is gregarious at this season, like most of its kind, although the flocks are seldom or never so large as the gatherings of Scoters and others. Its flight is remarkably quick, the long tail making the bird look extremely elegant. It is also an expert diver, disappearing as quick as thought, and often going for long distances beneath the surface, like a Grebe or a Shag. It obtains most of its food by diving, and, like the Eider, often comes shorewards with the tide. It feeds in deeper water, too, than many of its allies, as much of its prey is captured, not at the bottom, but floating in the sea. This food consists of small molluscs, crustaceans, minute marine animals, insects, and water plants, and weeds. Its note may be described as a loud cal-loo-oo.
The Long-tailed Duck breeds in the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, above the limits of forest growth, and, possibly, as far north as land exists. During summer, it frequents inland pools and lakes; odd pairs taking possession of the former, many pairs congregating on the latter. The birds arrive in the Arctic regions with the break-up of the ice, congregating in the pools amongst the floes. The nest is usually placed in some sheltered nook, amongst birch and willow scrub, in long grass, or on the drifted rubbish by the banks of the subsided rivers. It is little more than a hollow, lined with down. In this, during June or early July, from seven to twelve buffish-green eggs are laid by the female. It is a most remarkable fact that the drake of this species assists the duck in bringing up the young, but not, so far as I can learn, in incubating the eggs. During the whole breeding season this Duck is remarkably tame, loth to take wing, and swimming out into the centre of the lake for safety, if threatened by danger. The winter migrations of this Duck are not very extended, the Mediterranean Basin, perhaps, marking the extreme southern limits.
MERGANSERS.
The Mergansers are a well-defined little group of fish-eating Ducks, forming the sub-family Merginæ. They are characterised by their slender, narrow bill, furnished on both upper and lower mandible with saw-like lamellæ or denticulations. The head is always more or less crested; in most other respects they resemble the Diving Ducks, all the species seeking for their food by diving. The sexes differ in colour of plumage, but not, perhaps, to such a marked extent as in some other divisions of the Anatidæ. Six species of Mergansers are known to science, of which four are included in the British list—one as a rare visitor from North America. Of the remaining two species, one inhabits South America, the other the Auckland Islands. The young, as usual, are hatched covered with down, and able soon to follow the female to the water. In their moulting and progress to maturity they resemble preceding species.
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.
This handsome sea-bird, the Mergus serrator of Linnæus and most modern ornithologists, is unfortunately a winter visitor only to English waters. In Scotland and Ireland, however, it is one of the most familiar coast birds all the year round. The Red-breasted Merganser cannot readily be confused with any other Duck. The crested head and upper neck are black, shot with green and purple, the lower neck and upper breast are buff, streaked with black, the feathers on the sides of the breast having broad black margins, the flanks are strongly vermiculated with black, the back is black, vermiculated with gray on the lower portions, the inner scapulars are black, the outer ones white, the speculum is white, barred with black, and the underparts (except the flanks) are white. The female has the head and neck reddish-brown, and the upper parts brown, the black-bordered feathers on the sides of the breast are absent. Although found in many inland districts, the favourite resorts of the Red-breasted Merganser are wild, rocky coasts, such as contain plenty of quiet bays and creeks, and lochs studded with islands. Waters where the bottom is sandy or rocky, are preferred to those in which it is composed of mud. Many birds of this species visit our coasts for the winter from more northern haunts, whilst some of those dwelling in Scottish waters draw southwards at that season. This Merganser is more or less gregarious, and may be met with in flocks out at sea, or during rough weather sheltering nearer the land in lochs. Early in spring, and onwards through the summer, the Red-breasted Merganser lives closely in pairs, flying and feeding in company. I have noticed that this bird visits certain spots to feed very regularly, according to the state of the tide; almost to the minute I could depend upon certain pairs passing certain spots on their way to these feeding-grounds. I know of few prettier sights than the actions of a pair of Mergansers in some quiet, deep sea loch in early summer. The birds swim side by side close inshore below the rocks, first one diving, and then another, rarely, if ever, both descending at the same time when feeding; but when engaged in courtship, the drake will pursue the duck, and splash about in the water in a most uproarious way, often diving after her in the eagerness of his chase. The bird swims well, if rather low in the water, and dives head foremost with a leap just like the Shag. The food of this species consists largely of fish, but crustaceans, crabs especially, and molluscs are also devoured. Most of this food is obtained whilst diving, each capture being brought to the surface to be swallowed, the bird drinking after doing so, and not unfrequently rising three parts out of the water and flapping its wings. The note is a guttural kurr, heard chiefly during flight. The bird flies well and rapidly when once free from the water, but often flaps along the surface for several yards before that is accomplished.