LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMEEICAN" WILD FOWL 111 



hatched out the female king eiders lead them to some fresh-water lake in the 

 vicinity of the nest, unlike the common eiders, which at once take to the sea. 

 On a moderate-sized lagoon or fresh-water lake on the tundra scores of broods 

 of young eiders may be found congregated together late in the summer, accom- 

 panied by the ducks, and Doctor Van Oort observed that the ducks, by adroit 

 splashing and feigned attacks, were able to preserve their young from the 

 powerful sledge dogs which haunted the camp. 



Summing up what little data we have on the subject, it seems that, 

 whereas the other eiders of the north Atlantic nest on the seacoast 

 exclusively, preferably on islands and often in densely populated 

 colonies, the king eider seems to prefer to nest near the shores or on 

 the islands of fresh-water ponds and streams, and its nests are usually 

 widely scattered. Some writers have said that the nest resembles 

 that of the common eider, and others have called attention to the 

 darker down in the nests of the king eider. This character is very 

 well marked in the only nest I have of this species, in which the down 

 is dark " bone brown " or dark " clove brown " ; mixed with the down 

 are numerous bits of moss, lichens, and grass froni the tundra, a few 

 dry leaves of willows, and a few breast feathers of the duck. 



Eggs. — The king eider lays from 4 to 7 eggs, usually 5. These 

 resemble the eggs of the common species, but thej^ are decidedly 

 smaller, somewhat more elongated, and rather more pointed. The 

 shape is elliptical ovate or elongate ovate. The shell is smooth, but 

 without much gloss. The color varies from " darl . olive buff " to 

 " deep olive buff " or even " olive buff." The eggs are often clouded 

 or mottled with darker shades of olive or brown and are frequently 

 much nest stained, giving them a darker appearance. 



The measurements of 152 eggs, in various collections, average 

 67.6 by 44.7 millimeters ; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 

 79.5 by 47, 78.5 by 52, 61.3 by 45, and 62.5 by 41.5 millimeters. 



Incubation is performed by the female alone. The males desert 

 the females at this season and fly out to sea, where they form in large 

 flocks, often far from land and about the edges of the sea. Mr. 

 Manniche (1910) writes: 



The females would, in the breeding season, sometimes leave the nest for a 

 short while and fly to the nearest pond for the purpose of bathing and seeking 

 food. Like many other birds, the king eider is irritable and quarrelsome at 

 this period. One evening I observed a female which had just left her nest. 

 She flew quickly straight toward me and so low that she seemed to touch the 

 earth with the tips of her wings. I was standing on the beach of a pond with 

 shallow water. Uttering an angrs^ grunting she circled around and quite near 

 to me and then flew to the pond. Having quenched her thirst and by a pair of 

 quick bounds under the surface put her feathers in order, she swam straight 

 towai'd me, all the while uttering a peculiar growling and hissing; the feathers 

 on her head were erected, and she seemed to be very much displeased at my 

 presence; now and then she cackled in the shallow water like a domestic duck, 

 again to show her displeasure. 



