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 Jan., 19ll COURTSHIP O1' THE AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE 27 tended neck flat on the surface, and with its body so deeply immersed that from bill to tail it shoved no part much higher than the rest, looking, indeed, like a stick or reed-stem partly submerged. I have freqently'seen a wounded Black Duck or Blue-winged Teal do nearly if not exactly the same thing when trying to escape observation. The Golden-eyes maintained this posture anywhere from one or fwo to eight or ten seconds at a time. Forward lhrusl o. head and neck ending in /he bowspri! poslure. The drakes assumed this attitude by suddenly thrusting their heads and necks forward and upward from the normal position (this was evidently the usual way) or by raising them more slowly from the crouching or the wounded-duck posture. I saw then take it a dozen times or more. On each occasion the bird remained absolutely motionless for several seconds with its neck elongated to th utmost and held perfectly straight and rigid at an angle with the water of about 45, suggest- ing the bowsprit of a vessel of ancient type. Although this pose is apparently taken less frequently than some of the others, it appears to be not less deliberate and pronounced than the rest and equally expressive of emotions due primarily to sexual excitement. During its continuance the feathers of the head were some- times fluffed out, but oftener pressed down so very fiat that the head looked scarce thicker than the neck which, because of its unusual elongation, appeared abnor- mally slender. The bill was only slightly opened. As a rule the bird kept silent when in this position, but twice I saw, as well as heard, it bleat. In one of these instances it kicked up water just as it uttered the paaap; in the other this action was omitted. When the head was raised to the bow-sprit posture from the crouch- ing or the wounded-duck pose the movement was not especially rapid; but when it was thrust directly forward and upward from the normal position the action was so swift and abrupt that my .eye could scarce follow it. Although I witnessed the bowsprit posture a number of times it was assumed less often than either of the two fixed positions which I am about to describe. Upward lhrus! of head and neck ending in the masl-head poslure. Ordinarily this movement was complete in itself and made directly from--as well as back to--the normal position. Occasionally, however, it closely preceded or immediately followed a still longer backward swing--yet to be described. In the pose to which it commonly led--i. e., the mast-head pose--the Whistlet's neck might be elongated and straightened, as in the bow-spril poslure, and held stiffly erect, or it might be so shortened and curved that the occiput almost touched the back between the shoulders. In either case the bill was invariably well opened and pointed kyward for several seconds during which the head and neck were kept perfectly rigid. At the close of this brief period of inaction the bird fre- quently uttered its paaap and kicked up spray, but oftener than not I heard no sound and saw no water fly. t3ack [hrusl of head and neck ending in the blded duck-skin poslure. Some- times made from the mast-head posture but far oftener directly from the normal position, by a single uninterrupted upward and backward swing of the head and neck; this movement was so swift and sudden that I often failed to follow it even when watching for it with my attention concentrated on a bird which I felt confi- dent was about to make it. At its termination the neck lay extended along the back and so very flat and close that it was scarce noticeable. The head showed conspicuously enough, resting apparently on the occiput at a point anywhere be- tween the middle of the back and the rump, with the widely-parted mandibles pointing straight upward. When in this posture the bird bore a ludicrously close resemblance to a duck skin prepared after the style so much in vogue thirty or