THE EIDER DUCK. 



245 



haunts are to the southward, while its summer life 

 is passed far away to the north. 



Leaving the Canvass-backs in company with the 

 Ring-necks and Ruddy Ducks, the beautiful Bird 

 Duck, and the Velvet Duck, with its coating of black, 

 we pass on to the well-known Eider Duck. This 



Eider Duck. 



elegant bird, which inhabits the northern portions 

 of both continents, must, for various reasons, be 

 looked upon with great interest by the student of 

 Nature; and the value of its down, as a promoter of 

 ease and comfort, must claim for it equal celebrity 

 with the Canvass-back. In some localities their nests 

 are usually built upon rocky precipices which over- 

 hang the ocean, and are lined with the soft down 

 which the female plucks from her breast. In those 

 countries where this down is collected as an article 

 of commerce, in order to increase the quantity pro- 

 duced in one season, the nest is deprived of its eggs 

 21* 



