SKA-DUCKS 371 



nests arc placed both on the rocks and among- the bent- 

 grass along the sand-links, and contain five green eggs. 

 In July the old eider-drakes undergo a complete "eclipse," 

 their snowy plumage being then exchanged for a dress 

 of sombre black, only an indistinct superciliary line of 

 white remaining : and eiders then entirely lose the power 

 of flight. This would seem a dangerous condition for a 

 bird confined, as the eider is, to the open sea, and thus 

 deprived of all refuge amongst reeds, sedges, or other 

 covert, while in this defenceless state. But that is not the 

 case in practice : for so adept and determined a diver is 

 this species, habitually facing the heaviest seas, and even 

 passing through or under breakers, that the loss of wing- 

 power hardly affects its safety ; indeed, so much at home 

 does it appear, that this loss of the flight-feathers is 

 doubted by fishermen and others who see the birds daily. 

 Early in October, the old eider-drakes have almost com- 

 pletely regained their full white plumage : young drakes 

 retain the black dress throughout their first winter, though 

 a slight white band appears above the eye. During 

 winter, the sexes often congregate separately, but a few 

 precocious females usually accompany the packs of drakes. 

 In the month of March, as the nesting-season approaches, 

 eiders are apt to draw into the harbours and sand-flats : 

 places which they never frequent in winter. 



Eiders, as a rule, we never molest : but having been 

 asked to send two pairs to ornithological friends, we set 

 sail for that purpose on a breezy day in February. The 

 sea after a forty-eight hours' gale was still "lumpy" even 

 under the land, and running heavy outside. The first shot 

 was at five eiders, rising fairly near : but so smartly did 

 they dip (like woodcocks) over a curling 6-feet sea, that 

 the charge was intercepted by its fizzling crest. Later, we 



