SOMATERIA. 109 



neck streaked with the same. Length about 20.00-26.00, Eggs pale olive-buff, pale 

 dull olive-green or grayish pea-green. 



a}. Anterior point of feathering on forehead reaching only about half-way from the 

 j)oint of the naked angle on side of forehead to nostril ; featherin"- of lores 

 extending forward to at least beneath the posterior end of the nostril- 

 adult males with scapulars and tertials white, the top of head chiefly black. 

 (Subgenus Somateria.) 

 h^. Distance from anterior point of loral feathering to extremity of naked angle 

 on side of forehead, much greater than from same point to tip of upper 

 mandible ; adult male without any black on throat. 

 c\ Adult male Avith angle on side of forehead narrow and pointed ; black 

 of head bordered beneath by pure white, except at posterior 

 extremity only. 

 d^. Adidt male with bill dull grayish olive in life, the breast deeper, 

 more vinaceous, buff, the tertials less falcate; bill from poste- 

 rior end of nostril 1.65, angle from anterior extremity of loral 

 feathering to extreme point 1.46, depth of upper mandible (at 

 frontal apex) .92. Adult female with bill much heavier than in 

 the next, with nail larger and more strongly hooked ; bill from 

 posterior l)order of nostinls 1.47-1.53, angle 1.38-1.43, depth of 

 upper mandible .80-.90. Sab. Northern Europe. 



S. mollissima (Linn.). Eider.^ 

 d^. Adidt male with bill orange-yellowish in life, the breast paler buff, 

 the tertials more strongly falcate ; bill from posterior end of 

 nostril not more than 1.55, angle 1.38-1.52, its width across 

 middle not more than .30, depth of upper mandible .90-1.03. 

 Adult female: Bill from nostril 1.30-1.50, angle 1.20-1.40, depth 

 of upper mandible 0.78-0.95. Downy young : Above grayish 

 brown, fading gradually into paler grayish on lower parts, the 

 abdomen inclining to grayish white; chin and a broad super- 

 ciliary stripe pale brownish, in strong contrast with a dark 

 brown stripe on side of head. Eggs 2.97 X 1-97. Hab. Eastern 

 Arctic America, including Greenland ; south to northern Lab- 

 rador in summer and to northern border of United States in 

 winter. 



159. S. mollissima borealis (Brehm). Greenland Eider.' 



c^. Adult male with angle on side of forehead broad and rounded ; black of 



head bordered beneath by pale green for nearly its entire length. 



Bill from posterior end of nostril 1.35-1.48, angle from anterior 



extremity of loral feathering 1.75-2.00, its width across middle 



1 For references, see No. 159, A. 0. U. Check List : the American bird proves to be not the true S. mollissima, 

 however, but a fairly distinguishable race, characterized as above. 



2 Platypus borealis C. L. Brehm, Lehrb. Europ. Vog. 1824, 813. Somateria mollissima borealis A. E. Brehm, 

 Verz. Samml. Eur. Vog. 1866, 14. 



