54 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE COMMON EIDEE DUCK. 

 (Somateria mollissima.) 



Plate 9, Figs. 3, 4. 



The Eider breeds on the Fame Islands, very sparingly in the 

 Firth of Forth, in the Orkneys and Shetlands, and in suitable 

 localities throughout the islands off the west coast of Scotland, 

 extending to those of the St. Kilda group. The Eider appears 

 to be an Atlantic species, breeding as far as the shores of the 

 Kara Sea, and as far west as the Coppermine Kiver, as far 

 south as Labrador and Newfoundland, and on the coasts of 

 Greenland up to lat. 81^°. It is specially abundant in Iceland, 

 the Faroes, Spitsbergen, and Franz-Josef Land, and breeds in 

 various suitable localities on the islands off the coast of Norway 

 and Denmark. 



The nest of the Eider is often a rather substantial structure, 

 made of dry grass, heather, bits of seaweed, and stalks of campion 

 and other marine herbage. The lining of down is gradually added 

 when the full complement of eggs is almost completed. Nests that 

 I examined on the Fame Islands were made principally of dead 

 and living stalks of the sea-campion and a little grass, lined with 

 the down from the female. Sometimes the nest is very slight, 

 being little more than a hollow in the ground or amongst the 

 rocks, lined with a profusion of down and a few feathers. 



The eggs of the Common Eider are from five to eight in num- 

 ber, and vary in colour from creamy-grey to greyish-green. They 

 range in length from 3"3 to 2"8 inches, and in breadth from 205 

 to 1'9 inch. The down varies from greyish-brown to brownish- 

 grey, with obscure pale centres. The eggs of the King-Eider 

 may readily be distinguished by their smaller size. 



THE KING-EIDEE. 



(Somateria sj)cctabiUs.) 



Plate 9, Fig. 1. 



Although it is possible that the King-Eider may breed on one 



or two islands off the British coast, in the absence of conclusive 



evidence that such is the case, it can only be regarded as a rare 



and accidental straggler to our shores. It is circumpolar in its 



