1870.] REEKS— ON BIRDS OF NEWEOUNDLAND. 303 



Several hundreds of these beautiful ducks breed on some islands 

 in the Bay of St. Paul, about five miles v^^est of Cow Head, and 

 are strictly preserved by an old Englishman, the only human 

 resident in the bay. So abundant were these birds in Newfound- 

 land a few years ago that a man living at Cow Head killed one 

 hundred and ten eiders at two shots in one day, and on another 

 occasion Jifti/-t7iree at owe shot: forty, also, had frequently been 

 killed at a shot, and I saw a youth, seventeen years of age, knock 

 down twenty at a shot in January, 1868, but even this last, 

 number is now rarely obtained so easily. To the sportsman who 

 is content with a duck to each barrel this comparative scarcity 

 is of small import, but to the poor settlers it is a matter of great 

 consideration. The common eider does not breed or assume the 

 adult plumage until the third year: it is called the " sea duck" 

 by the settlers. The young males resemble the females, but 

 lack the tinge of reddish brown which is characteristic of adult 

 females of this and the following species. 



King Elder, S. spectabilis (Linn.) — The adult male of this 

 species is a large handsome bird and much sought for by ornitho- 

 logists, especially those who go to the trouble and expense of 

 visiting either its summer or winter haunts. The king eider, which 

 is called " king bird " in Newfoundland, is tolerably common durinj; 

 its periodical migrations, and is frequently shot in company with 

 the preceding species. On the 17th of December, 1867, 1 obtained 

 an adult male " king biid ;" and on the 19th an immature male : 

 the latter was one of two killed at a shot with eight of the common 

 eider. King eiders are more abundant some seasons than others : 

 in 1865 twenty of these birds were killed at a double shot by one 

 of the settlers at Cow Head. Young males the first year resemble 

 the females, but in the second year have the throat and neck 

 copiously spotted with white. The adult female of this species is 

 easily separated from its congener, {^S. molli&sima) by its much 

 smaller size, its shorter bill, and by having a more decided rufous 

 tinge on the upper plumage. 



Ruddy Duchj Erismatura rubida (Wilson). — A rare and un- 

 certain visitor on the north-west coast. 



Goosander, Mergus americanus, Cassin. — A summer mi^^rant 

 and tolerably common : it breeds on the margins of lakes and rivers 

 and is called the "gozzard" by the settlers. 



Redhreasted Merganser, M. serrator, Linn. — A very common 

 summer migrant, remaining in Newfoundland as long as any open 



