554 Capt. SapiNe’s Memoir on the Birds of Greenland, $c. 
on shore were very rare and very hurried. Two females were 
killed, agreeing as well as the male with the descriptions of au- 
thors. It is reasonable to suppose that they are the same num- 
ber of years in attaining maturity as the Eider Duck; but the 
different states of their immature plumage have not as yet been 
noticed. This is one of the desiderata which it is hoped the next 
voyage will supply. The rarity of this bird in the milder parts 
of Europe, and the want of specimens of it in the best collec- 
tions, have occasioned it to be im perfectly known, except amongst 
the writers on the ornithology of the northern regions. Temminck 
in his Manuel considers it as the Anas mollissima in one of its 
changes; this is the cause that there is no reference to his work 
amongst the books cited. It is however noticed in the second 
edition of his Manuel, now preparing for publication, as a distinct 
species. | 
. The trachea of the King Duck has so close a resemblance to 
that of the Anas mollissima or Eider Duck, that one description 
and figure will suffice for both: they are represented in the an- 
nexed plate. Tab. XXX. Fig. 1 and 2. 
27. Anas Morrissiwa. Eider Duck. 
A. Mollissima. Gmel. i. 514. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. 845. Temm. 549. Müll. no. 116. 
Fabr. 68. Brün. nos. 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63,64, 65,& 66. Faun. Suec. 41.— 
Eider Duck. Lath. Syn. vi. 470. Supp. 974. Br. Zool. ii. 943. Mont. Dict. & 
` Supp. Arct. Zool. ii. 553. Wil. Am. Orn. viii. 122 (male). 125 (female). 
Abundant on the coast of Greenland; but we were not fortu- 
nate in obtaining many specimens. According to Fabricius these 
Ducks congregate in immense flocks during the winter. Brün- 
nich has described the male of yarious ages, as well as the female, 
and several varieties: according to his account the male is not 
perfectly mature in plumage till the fourth year; he describes the 
male at one year old as having white as well as black markings on 
various 
