536 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



on the approach of a severe winter. They may then be seen diving 

 in companies of three to five over the reef which extends from 

 the base of the dune for nearly four miles out to sea in a north- 

 westerly direction. They evidently find in that quarter food 

 specially to their liking, for they stay there by preference through- 

 out the whole winter. Females and young birds are pretty often 

 taken in the duck-nets, while old males, which, as a rule, do not 

 come so near to the island, are frequently shot from boats. 



The Long-tailed Duck belongs to those species whose breeding 

 haunts are situated in the highest northern latitudes ; they extend 

 around the Pole, and have been met with in Spitzbergen in latitude 

 80° N., and in the Taimyr Peninsula in 74° N. latitude. Captain 

 Feilden shot the bird in September, i.e. on its return passage 

 from the breeding stations, near Floeberg-Beach, in 82° 27 ' N. 

 latitude. 



339.— Eider Duck [Eiderente]. 

 ANAS MOLLISSIMA, Linn.i 



Heligolandish : Jiinn-snoahelt = Hoi-nbiU. 



Anas mollissima. Naumann, xii. 252. 



Eider Duck. Dresser, vi. 629. 



Canard eider. Teinminck, Manuel, ii. 848, iv. 541. 



The present, unlike the rest of the Sea Ducks which visit this 

 island, is not restricted in its appearance by particular seasons or 

 conditions. Young birds are met with every autumn and frequently 

 shot, while old males in perfect plumage have been repeatedly 

 killed at the same season — amongst others a remarkably tine 

 example preserved in my collection, which was shot on the 25th 

 of October 18.50. In severe winters flocks of from twenty to fifty 

 individuals may be seen on the sea. These consist for the most 

 part of grey birds, intermixed with- which are scattered old white 

 male birds. The winter visitors probably originate from breeding 

 stations in the far north, while the autumn birds, some of which 

 at times appear here as early as September, probably reach this 

 island from the neighbouring isle of Sylt. 



The nesting stations of this Duck extend throughout Green- 

 land, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Franz-Joseph Land, and Nova Zembla. 

 Captain Feilden met with it up to 81° 38' N. latitude. In the 

 south its breeding quarters extend to the coast and islands of 

 northern Scotland and Scandinavia. The island of Sylt is pro- 

 bably the southernmost point where occasional pairs are still found 



' Somateria mollissima (Linn.). 



