DUCKS 



145 



tion. yellowish-brown, streaked on head and neck, and 

 barred on body, except abdomen, with black and brown. 

 Nest and Eggs. — Nest: On the ground among 

 rocks; made almost entirely of fcatliers and down 

 from the bird's breast. Eggs ; 5 to 8, light olive. 



Distribution. — Very locally distributed on coast of 

 Bering Sea and adjacent Arctic Ocean ; breeds in 

 Alaska from Point Barrow to mouth of the Kuskokwim 

 and on the northern coast of Siberia west to mouth of 

 Lena River; winters in Aleutian Islands. 



The Spectacled Eider is essentially an .Alaskan 

 Dtick, as far as its habitat on th's continent is 

 concerned, and is most commonly seen in and 

 near Norton Sound, where it lireeds. Its prin- 

 cipal winter home seems to be on the islands of 

 the Aleutian Archijielago. Like the Emperor 

 Goose, this Duck is likely to fly near the sur- 

 face of the water or the land ; its normal procu- 

 ress on the wint( is very swift and stead}'. Dur- 



int; July and ^Vuf^ust the l)irds undergo a severe 

 molt which deprives them even of the use of 

 their wing-feathers. When they arc tints help- 

 less the Eskimos kill them wholesale with sticks 

 and clubs. The natives also make ca]is of the 

 lieavilv feathered skins of this Eider, and tise the 

 bright green plumage for headdresses of vari- 

 ous k'nds. 



Drawing by R. I. Brashc 



r 

 SPECTACLED EIDER (j nat. size) 

 The Eskimos make caps of its skin 



NORTHERN EIDER 

 Somateria mollissima borealis (Brehm) 



.■\. O. U. .\umlicr 1 59 



General Description. — Length, 24 inches. Males are 

 white above, ami black below; females are pale rufous- 

 brown, variegated with darker. 



Color. — .-XnuLT M.\le: Crown, glossy blue-black, 

 including eyes, and separating behind to receive white 

 of hind neck; head, neck all arnuiid, forc-brcast. mnst 

 of hack, must of z^'ing-cuvcrts, long inner secondaries, 

 and sides of runif<, jc/i/fc tinged with creamy-pink on 

 breast; sides of head washed with pale sea-green; 



middle of rump, upper tail-coverts, tail, lower back, and 

 under parts from breast, deep sepia black ; bill, yel- 

 lowish, brownish in center with white tip ; legs, yellow- 

 ish ; iris, brown, .\dult Fem.m.e: Ground color of 

 entire plumage, pale rufous-brown, darker on crown, 

 streaked on side of head and neck and variegated else- 

 where with transverse bars of black and chestnut- 

 brown ; abdomen, plain grayish-brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Between stones, on rocks 



