26o HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



Scoter the membrane is dark slate colour, but the 

 legs and toes orange-red. I noted this in two 

 birds shot on the same day (Nov. 6, 1897), at the 

 mouth of the Thames off Canvey Island. 



The weight of the Velvet Scoter was 2 lbs. 8 oz., 

 the Common Scoter one ounce less, both birds being 

 in good condition. 



EIDER DUCK. Somateria Tnollissima (Linnseus). PI. 30, 

 figs. 1, 2. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2-25 in. ; wing, 12 in. ; 

 tarsus, 1-75 in. 



Resident in Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, the 

 coasts of Scotland, the coast of Northumberland, 

 and the Fame Islands, where I have seen these 

 Ducks sitting on their nests, and so reluctant to 

 move for fear of having their eggs abstracted by 

 Gulls that they would allov^' themselves to be touched 

 before moving away. The southernmost breeding 

 station of the Eider is believed to be Coquet Island, 

 Northumberland. (See Zool, 1887, pp. 13, 108.) 

 Migrating down the east coast in November, they 

 wander as far south as the English Channel, enter- 

 ing the estuaries of the Stour, the Blackwater, and 

 the Thames on the way. I have occasionally come 

 across immature ducks of this species in November 

 on the Sussex coast off Pagham and Selsea. 



The food of the Eider consists of mollusca 

 (such as cockles, periwinkles, and mussels) and 

 various Crustacea. In the gullet of one was 

 found a great spider crab [Hyas araneus) with an 

 unbroken carapace 2$ inches in length (Gurney, 



