330 SWIMMERS. 



buff; bill and legs orange. The female has the entire plumage of two 

 shades of brown, the centre of the feathers dark brown, and the edges 

 rufous. Length 24 inches. 



Nest. On an ocean island or sea-side cliff, sometimes on a dry hillside, 



— usually a depression in the soil thickly lined with down ; often a high 

 structure of twigs and moss. 



Eggs. 6-10 (usually 6) ; green of various shades, with more or less 

 tinge of buff; 2.60 X 1-90. 



This species is an inhabitant of the glacial regions, living 

 generally out at sea, and feeding, independently of the land, 

 chiefly upon the mollusca which abound in the Arctic Sea. 

 It is never seen in fresh waters, and only resorts to land 

 for the indispensable purposes of reproduction. Being well 

 provided with a thick and downy robe, it is litde inclined 

 to change its situation, however rigorous the climate ; and as 

 the frost invades its resorts, it continually recedes farther out 

 to sea, and dwells securely amidst eternal barriers of ice and 

 all the horrors of an Arctic winter. The King Duck, still 

 more sedentary than the Eider, is seldom seen beyond the 

 59th parallel, except in the depth of winter, when, according 

 to Audubon, it is observed off the coast of Halifax in Nova 

 Scotia, Newfoundland, etc., and a few have been obtained off 

 Boston, and at Eastport in Maine. These birds abound in 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen, and visit and sometimes breed in 

 the Orkneys and other of the remote Scottish isles. A few are 

 also occasionally seen on the coasts of the Baltic and in Den- 

 mark. They breed sometimes in the crevices of rocks impend- 

 ing over the sea, making a nest of sticks and moss, lined with 

 down from the breast. 



The flesh is said to be palatable, the gibbous part of the bill 

 being accounted a dehcacy ; and the down collected by the 

 Greenlanders is esteemed of equal value with that of the 

 Common Eiders. 



The King Eider breeds in high latitudes, — north of latitude 73°, 



— but a few pairs nest on the Labrador coast, and Mr. Boardman 

 says that nests have been found in the Bay of Fundy. 



In winter these birds are found in South Greenland and along 

 the coast of New Jersey (sparingly), and occasionally on the Great 

 Lakes. 



