IIQ NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



not less than .45, depth of upper mandible at frontal apex 

 1.00-1.28. Adult female : Bill from posterior end of nostril 1.32, 

 angle 1.87 (width .22), depth of npper mandible .78. Eggs 2.97 

 X 2.01. Hab. Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine to 

 Newfoundland and southern Labrador; south, in winter, to the 

 Delaware and the Great Lakes. 



160. S. dresseri Sharpe. American Eider. 



b^. Distance from anterior extremity of loral feathering to extremity of naked 



ano-le on side of forehead, less than distance from same point to tip of 



upper mandible ; adult male with a V-shaped mark of black on throat. 



Plumage otherwise essentially as in S. mollissima and S. dresseri ; bill 



of adult male bright orange or orange-red in life, with paler tip. 



Male: Wing 11.75-12.75, culmen 1.80-2.20, length of bill to point 



of basal angle 2.50-3.10, greatest width of angle .20-.30, tarsus 2.00- 



2.30. Female: Wing 11.50-12.50, length of bill to point of basal 



angle 2.50-2.65. Eggs 2.96 X 1-96. Hah. Northwestern America, 



east to Great Slave Lake ; northeastern Asia. 



161. S. v-nigra Gray. Pacific Eider. 

 a^. Anterior point of feathering on forehead reaching as far forward as posterior 

 end of nostril, the loral feathering extending only about half as far. Adult 

 male with scapulars and tertials black, the top of the head light bluish gray; 

 lateral base of upper mandible, in adult male, enlarged into a very conspicu- 

 ous broad lobe, the width of which at widest part exceeds the depth of upper 

 mandible at anterior end of nostril. (Subgenus Erionetta Coues.) 



Adult male with a V-shaped mark of black on throat, as in >S'. v-nigra. Fe- 

 male and young hardly different in plumage from other species, but very 

 readily distinguishable by different outline of feathering at base of upper 

 mandible, as pointed out above. AVing 10.50-11.25, bill to end of basal 

 lobe 1.20-1.30 in male, about 2.00 in female, tarsus 1.80-1.86. Eggs 2.ri1 

 X 1.83. Hab. Northern portions of northern hemisphere ; south, in 

 winter, to New Jersey and the Great Lakes. 



162. S. spectabilis (Linn.). King Eider. 



Genus OIDEMIA Fleming. (Page 86, pi. XXVIL, figs. 1-4.) 



Species. 

 Common Characters. — Adult males uniform black, with or without white 

 speculum, and with or without white patches on head; bill brightly colored in life 

 with tints of yellow, orange, or red, but partly black. Adult females plain brown- 

 ish, lighter and more grayish beneath, the white head-markings of the male (if 

 any) indistinctly indicated. 



a^. Length of commissure much less than inner toe, without claw ; adult males 

 entirely uniform black ; bill of adult male much swollen on top at base ; 

 distance from anterior end of nostril to nearest feathers of forehead greater 

 than distance from same point to tip of bill. (Subgenus Oidemia.) 



