Buffle-head

Very closely related, and indeed often placed in the same genus with the last, is the Buffle-head, Butter-ball, or Spirit Duck (Charitonetta albeola), a small North American species about fifteen inches in length, which may be distinguished by the presence of a broad white patch which passes around the back of the head from eye to eye. As an expert diver is perhaps not exceeded; its ability to disappear at the flash of a gun before the charge of shot reaches it has given rise to its name of Spirit-Duck. Like the Golden-eye it nests in hollow stumps and trees, laying from six to twelve light buff-colored eggs.