154 SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. 



the Mallard. The flight of this bird is direct, steady, and 

 moderately rapid, being performed by continuous quick beats 

 of the wings, generally low over the water. It swims well, 

 sitting lightly, although, from the flatness of its body, it 

 seems to sink considerably, and on diving is capable of 

 remaining a considerable time under the water. In all these 

 respects it differs little from the Scoters and Fuligulte. It is 

 difficult to shoot, being wary, and diving rapidly. 



In Scotland the Eiders are not svifficiently numerous to 

 be of any importance in an economical point of view ; but in 

 the northern countries of Europe their doAvn, with that of 

 other sea-birds, forms an article of commerce in much request, 

 being employed for coverlets and quilts, for which, from its 

 extreme lightness, elasticity, and non-conduction of heat, it 

 is well adapted. In these quaHties I do not And it superior 

 to that of the King-Duck, which is, in fact, somewhat finer, 

 nor to that of Aythya Ferina, Fuligula cristata, and Marila, 

 although that of the latter bird is coarser. All the Anatinae 

 that I have examined with this view, as well as all the 

 Anserinse — of which, however, the down, although finer, is 

 less elastic — are pretty much alike, and the Eider down has 

 obtained its celebrity simply because it is the only Idnd 

 easily procured in quantity. It has been alleged that " as 

 plucked from the living bird it is much more elastic than 

 when taken from the body after death;" but on comparing 

 some down plucked from a Davis' Straits' specimen now 

 before me with some collected in nests in the outer Hebrides, 

 I find that the down from the dead bird is rather superior in 

 elasticity, probably because it has not been in any degree 

 crumpled or entangled, as the other has slightly been. 



Mr. Audubon, who gives by much the best account of the 

 habits of this bird that I have seen, states that " in Labrador 

 the Eider Ducks begin to form their nests about the last 

 week of May. Some resort to islands scantily furnished with 

 grass, near the tufts of which they construct their nests ; 

 others form them beneath the spreading boughs of the stunted 

 firs, and in such places five, six, or even eight are sometimes 

 found beneath a single bush. Many arc placed on the shel- 

 tered shelvings of rocks a few feet above high-water mark. 



