LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 83 



from a dovecot. The sound is audible for a long distance ; from the time 

 we left Saunders Island until we returned we were not beyond reach of these 

 "" love songs." 



As we set foot upon the islet hundreds of eiders flew about us. The snow 

 still left on the ice foot and on the slopes of th,e low, rocky hills was beaten 

 <Jown by their footprints. We scrambled hastily over the islet in search of 

 ■eggs, but found only a dozen all told, where last year on June 15 several 

 thousand were collected. The fact that no nest held more than one egg indi- 

 <?ated that the lateness of the season and the heavy snow on the islet liad 

 retarded the nesting season. On the other hand, it may have been that the 

 heavy inroad upon the nests last year discouraged the return of the birds to 

 the islet this year. They may have gone to some other, more remote islet 

 to nest. 



The eiders nest on all the small skerries and islets and many favorable places 

 along the mainland. The Eider Islands, Dalrymple Rock, Lyttleton Island, 

 McGarys Rock, the small islets in the bay south of Cape Hatherton, Suther- 

 land Island, Hakluyt, and the Gary Islands are all frequented by large num- 

 bers of nesting eiders. They may nest in large numbers close together where 

 conditions are favorable, but many nest alone far from any other companions, 

 ■either on the mainland, sometimes far inland, though more frequently near the 

 «hore, or on the larger islands. Safety from depredations by foxes, jaegers, 

 and ravens is a factor in the choice of nesting sites. 



The nest of the eider is profusely lined, around, under, and some- 

 times over the eggs with a thick bed of soft, fluffy down, densely 

 matted, a famous product of considerable commercial value; in color 

 it is " drab," " light drab," or " drab gray," with poorly defined 

 lighter centers and light tips; mixed with it are occasional bits of 

 pure white down, dusky belly feathers, and barred breast feathers. 



Eggs. — The northern eider raises but one brood in a season and 

 lays ordinarily from 4 to 6 eggs; larger numbers have been found, 

 -even as many as 19, in one nest, but probably the larger numbers 

 are the product of more than one female. In this connection the 

 following notes from Mr. Turner are of interest : 



The number of eggs in a nest is not always a safe index to the number of 

 birds having made the deposit. It frequently happens that a single female 

 will be attended by as many as five males; although it is scarcely probable 

 that they all enjoy equal rights. One of the males is always the leader and 

 the others appear to be entirely under his guidance. I have again, and on 

 repeated occasions, known a single male to have as many as three females 

 binder his charge. It is, of course, difficult with these wild birds to determine 

 whether under such circumstances two or more of these ducks have a nest 

 in common or whether they make separate nests. 



The eggs of all three of the large eiders, moUissirrui^ dresser^ and 

 V-nigra., are indistinguishable in size, shape, or color, so one de- 

 scription will serve for all three. In shape they vary from ovate to 

 elliptical ovate. The shell is smooth, with only a slight gloss, which 

 increases with incubation. The color varies from " olive " to " deep 

 olive buff," or from "yellowish glaucous" to " vetiver green." The 

 eggs are often mottled or clouded with darker shades of green, olive. 



