i82 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



the Lena, and on the Taimyr peninsula. It has been 

 said to breed on the coast of Russian Finmark, and in 

 the Varanger Fjord, but, if true, the occurrence is most 

 exceptional. 



Breeding habits : Steller's Eider wanders no further 

 from its breeding grounds than the severity of the 

 weather compels. It is a nomadic migrant, only coming 

 south to where open water can be found, and retiring 

 north again with the break-up of the ice. It is gregarious 

 during winter, and more or less social in summer, numbers 

 of ducks nesting in close proximity, and the drakes 

 swimming and feeding in company. The breeding haunts 

 of this beautiful Eider are the rocky coasts of the Arctic 

 Ocean. Of its pairing habits we know nothing. But 

 little has been recorded of the nidification of this species ; 

 indeed the only information we possess is that obtained 

 by Von Middendorff in Siberia. He met with this Duck 

 breeding in some numbers on the Taimyr peninsula, 

 which is remarkable for being the most northerly 

 continental land in the world. The nests were made on 

 the tundra, and are described as deep hollows in the 

 moss-clothed ground, lined with quantities of down 

 plucked from the body of the female. The ducks sit very 

 closely, the drakes swimming in attendance on the 

 adjoining sea, and meeting their mates when they leave 

 their nests for a brief period to feed. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of Steller's Eider are from seven to nine in 

 number. They are smooth in texture, slightly polished, 

 and pale buffish-green in colour. Average measurement, 

 2'35 inches in length, by r55 inch in breadth. Incuba- 

 tion is performed by the female, but the duration of the 

 period is unknown. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of this bird are 

 very rare in collections, and unfortunately they possess no 



