THE EIDER DUCK 327 



esting to see tliese birds swim through the clear glassy wall 

 of water, just before the big wave turns over and breaks in a 

 seething froth-crowned line along the shore. The birds ride 

 lightly as flecks of foam, now high up on the curling crests 

 of the waves, then deep down in the trough of water, hidden 

 from your view. Gradually they float nearer and nearer in- 

 shore, feeding as they come ; but if alarmed they quickly swim 

 farther out to sea, only taking wing when absolutely com- 

 pelled. The Eider Duck flies quickly, with rapid and regular 

 beat of wing, generally close to the sea, and rises from the 

 water at once and with little splash. Its food is obtained 

 almost exclusively from the sea, and consists of the small 

 crustaceans, marine insects, and small shellfish. The birds 

 obtain most of this food inshore, especially in places where 

 the incoming tide stirs up the sand and fills the water with 

 various forms of animal life. The Eider Duck is gregarious 

 in winter, and more or less sociable in summer, parties 

 of six or eight birds often being seen on the sea near the 

 nesting-places. It is a remarkably silent bird, except in the 

 breeding season, when I have often heard the male utter 

 a note something like that of the Eing Dove, as he swam 

 round and round his mate, bobbing his head rapidly all the 

 time. On one occasion I met with a party of these birds 

 evidently engaged in pairing, my attention being drawn to 

 them by the chorus of grunting notes the male birds w^ere 

 uttering. It was a most animated sight, and the drakes w^ere 

 constantly chasing each other with angry cries, or swimming 

 excitedly round the ducks, with trembling wings and heads 

 swaying up and down. The noise made by this party of 

 Eiders could be distinctly heard a mile across the water. 

 When alarmed both sexes utter a harsh grating cry, very 

 unlike the usual quacking sound made by most Ducks. 



The flocks of Eider Ducks separate more distinctly into 

 pairs at the first sign of spring, although the nest is not made 



