292 



KEY AND DESCRIPTIOX 



a mahogany-colored stripe on side of crown, and several white 

 blotches on wings. Female, grayish-brown, with the front of 

 head and a patch on the cheek whitish. Belly 

 lighter than the back. A most expert diver, 

 living on lish and other water animals, and 

 forming but poor food for human beings. 



Ltiigtli, lOi ; wing, 7^ (7-8) ; tail, Z\; tar- 

 susi \\; culiiRU, \\. Northern North 

 America ; breeding from Newfound- 

 land northward, and wintering 

 south to the Middle States and 

 California. 



21. Northern Eider 

 (159. ^oinat^ria mol- 

 llssima boreiMis). — 

 Tins more northern 

 Harlequin Duck ei,^ler duck, which is 



rarely found as far south as Massachusetts, has the bare por- 

 tions of the bill extending l)ackward by the sides of the culmen 

 in two narrow, rather sharji i)oints; in the next sjjecies these 

 points are broad and rounded. The colors are })ractically the 

 same as those of the Ameri- 

 can eider, given below. 



Length, 24; wing, 11; tail, 

 4 ; tarsus, 1| ; culmen, IJ. 

 Northern North America ; win- 

 tering south to coast of Massa- 

 chusetts. 



22. American Eider (100. 

 Somateria (Jn'sseri). — In 

 breeding plumage, it is a 

 large, mainly white duck, 

 with the lower parts from 

 breast, the tail, and lower 

 back black. The head is ^' Northern Eider 2. American Eider 



greenish tinted, and has a large V-shaped patch of black on 

 the crown, and the breast is creamy tinted. The female (also 



