136 ARCTIC ZOOLOGY. 



doubt. The Greenlanders eat the flesh of this bird, 

 convert the skin into inner garments, and make fishing 

 hnes of the quills. 



Anas Mollissima (the eider duck). — Male — bill, legs, 

 front, ocular band, breast, rump and belly, black : 

 crown, shoulders and wing coverts, white, with a green 

 blotch on the nape. Female — almost wholly ferruginous, 

 or rusty brown, with darker lines : tail and primary quill 

 feathers, dusky. Length — 22 inches. Food — testaceous 

 animals. Eggs — five, greenish, with a tinge of brown, and 

 larger than those of the tame duck, which, as well as the 

 flesh of the bird, are excellent food Avhen fresh. The nest 

 is constructed of dry vegetables, and strewed over with the 

 rich down of the bird, which is either shed from the heat of 

 incubation, or is pulled oft' for the purpose of increasing 

 the warmth. The plumage constitutes the valuable eider 

 down. 



The vast flocks of these birds, that annually visit the 

 shores of Greenland for the purpose of rearing their young, 

 are surprising to one unaccustomed to see animals so highly 

 prized for their down. It would be needless to particularize 

 any bay, inlet, or creek, as most remarkable for the retreat 

 of these birds during the season of incubation ; they are 

 however careful to avoid the presence of the natives as 

 much as possible ; and they are generally found by the 

 whale ships where Uskees are not seen. In Hickson's Bay, 



