106 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Whether the actions of the young were due to panic or inability to realize the 

 presence of danger I could not tell, but they appeared to me to be decidedly 

 stupid. I know of no other duck, not excepting the oldsquaw, which at times 

 seems to be devoid of any sense of danger, that would not have led her young 

 to safety in a fraction of the time it took this eider. 



Plumages. — The downy young are absolutely indistinguishable^ 

 so far as I can see, from those of either tnoUisswia or dresseri^ and 

 the molts and plumages of all three are practically identical. 



Mr. Hersey secured for me a fine specimen of an adult male in full 

 eclij^se plumage, of which he says, in his notes : 



The molt of the males into eclipse plumage takes place during July, and 

 by August 1 the birds are flightless. This flightless period is probably spent 

 on the open sea where they are practicallj' safe. On August 11, 1915, a bird 

 in full eclipse plumage was secured on St. Michael Bay. The new primaries 

 were about 3 inches long, but the bird was still unable to fly. Its diving 

 and swimming powers fully compensated for its loss of flight, and it was 

 captured only after more than four hours' pursuit, when a mistake in 

 judgment brought it to the surface, after a long dive, within range of oui* 

 boat. 



Food. — The Pacific eider apparently does not differ from its At- 

 lantic relative in its food and feeding habits. 



Behavior. — Pacific eiders have similar enemies and as meekly sub- 

 mit to their depredations as do their eastern relatives. MacFarlane 

 (1891) saw a snowy owl eating the eggs in an eider's nest. Mr. 

 Turner (1886) writes: 



The bird is very shy except when on land during boisterous weather. At 

 that time the natives of the western islands of the Aleutian chain used small 

 handnets to throw over the birds as they sat stupidly on the shore. A bright 

 night with a hard gale of wind was the best time to secure them. The 

 birds then sit in a huddle and many are caught at one throw of the net. 

 The natives assert that the common hair seals catch these birds when on 

 the water and drag them under to play with them ; hence, these birds are 

 constantly on the alert for seals and take flight as soon as a seal is dis- 

 covered near . 



Winter. — The Pacific eider has a more decided migration than the 

 Atlantic species, for, though it breeds abundantly on the Arctic 

 coast of Alaska and eastward to the Coppermine River, it is not 

 known to winter north of Bering Straits, as there is no open water 

 to be found in this portion of the Arctic Ocean. The main winter 

 resort of the Pacific eider is in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands, 

 though it has been detected in winter as far north as the Diomedes. 

 This means a migration route of about 2,000 miles from the remotest 

 breeding grounds. On the other hand, the birds which breed in the 

 Aleutian Islands and south of the Alaska Peninsula probably do not 

 migrate far from their breeding grounds. 



