KING EIDER. 89 



Nest, on the yrouiul. r()iii))oscil nf dry grass, iiioss and sea weed, lined witli 

 <lown and feathers. 



Eggs, six to ten. dral), tinged M'ith gieen. 



The Eider Duck is essentially a 1)ii(l of the sea coast, breeding 

 abundantl}' along the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador. Its 

 \isits to our inland waters are made during the season of migration, 

 wlien the mo\ements of all migi-atory birds are considerably affected 

 l)y the prevailing winds. ()n Lake Ontai-io it is a casual visitoi- in 

 winter, but is seldom, if ever, seen there in mature plumage. 



The one in my collection is a young male in the garb of the 

 female. I shot it from the ])ier of the canal at the entrance to 

 Hamilton Bay a few years ago. They were seen occasionalh'^ all tliat 

 winter, but they were known to be "fishy,'^ and as there is nothing 

 attracti\e in their dress they wei'e not much disturbed, although they 

 allowed a nearer approach than other water-fowl are disposed to do. 



< In the 7th November, 1889, Mr. George R. White captured a 

 young male of this .species on the river near Ottawa. It was in the 

 plumage of the female. 



Mr. William Cross obtained a specimen which was shot at the 

 island near Toronto on December 6th, 1890. 



Mr. Frazer found the Eider Duck breeding on the small islands 

 along the coast of Labrador. The nest was built in a hollow among 

 the soft short grass, or at the foot of a rock wheie it was sheltered 

 from the wind. It was composed of grass and lined with slate- 

 <'oloretl down from the breast of the bird. 



SOMATEKIA SPECTABILLS (Ljnn.). 

 •-)7. King Eider. (16i>) 



Ada//, iiiali: : — Bill, pale yellow ; at the l)ase of the up])er mandible is a 

 compressed gibbous substance of a bright orange color, the front covered Avith 

 short black feathei-s, the sides margined with the same color, the feathei-s 

 extending back in a point nearly to the eye; head, bhiish-gray, darkest behind; 

 cheeks, shaded with sea gi'een, a spot of black below the eye; on the throat, 

 two lines of Idack forming an inverted V; middle of neck, white; lower neck 

 and forepart of the breast, buff; lower plumage, blackish; a lai'ge S{)ot of 

 white on eithei- side of the rump; posteriorly, black; wings and tail, l)rown, the 

 former broadly marked with white. When in full plumage the secondaries 

 curve over the primaries. Length, "20 inches. Yoioirj : — Dark brown, many 

 feathers on the neck margined with white ; gibbous substance on the l)ill 

 scarcely perceptible. Fimnlt :- -Much like the common Eider, tlic sliape of the 



