ANATID.E -FULIGULINJ:: SEA DUCKS. 



941 



site hind end of nostrils), and have rounded instead of acute termination ; their lower border 

 is also more nearly ])arallel with edge of commissure. The extension of feathers on chin equals 

 or even surpasses that on side of hill, rather the reverse being the case witii mollissima and 

 dresseri. The bill of the adult $ is bright orange, that of the 9 dull greenish-yellow, in both 

 cases with paler nail. N. Pacific C(»ast to the Arctic Ocean, common in suitable localities on 

 both coasts and islands of Bering's Sea, and the polar coasts of Siberia; replacing the conmion 

 Eider, and associated with tlic King, Spectacled, and Steller's Eiders. Kecorded from Great 

 Slave Lake. Nesting like that of other true Eiders, and eggs probably not distinguisliable ; 

 tluy measure 2.87-3.12 X 2.00 or a trifle more, and are light olive drab in color; laid mostly 

 in June, during which month the drakes go off to flock by themselves; the moult progresses in 

 July and August, and the flappers hardly fly before September. 



{Subgenus Erionetta.) 



S. (E.) specta'bilis. (Lat. spectabilis, conspicuous, spectacular. F'ig. 6G0.) King Eider. 

 Characters of bill and its feathering quite diff"erent from those of other Eiders, and moreover 

 varying much, not only in the two sexes, but in $ at different seasons. In adult $, in breed- 

 ing season, the bill develops immense rounded or squarish lateral frontal processes, bulging high 

 out of line with rest of bill; these 

 processes are soft, and moreover de- 

 pend for their prominence upon devel- 

 opment of a mass of fatty substance 

 upon which they are supported; they 

 shrink and become more depressed 

 in winter, when the general forma- 

 tion of the parts is not very different 

 from that of other Eiders. The 

 frontal feathers extend in a definite 

 line along the elevated culmen to 

 about opj)osite hind end of nostrils ; 

 those of side of bill, on the contrary, 

 fall far short of nostrils ; those of 

 chin reach about opposite those of 



,, . ., I 1 <• *i 1 ♦ Fio. Cr/). -King Eider, Post iiii|itial Dress. (L. A. Fuertes.) 



cuMiien ; the whole feathered out- 

 line of bill being thus very different from that of any other Eider. In 9; thouirh all the 

 jiarts concerned are less developed, the same relative extension of featlit-rs (d»tains, so that 

 the bird is distinguished easily from 9 of '"^'ly other Eider; culminal and mental feathers both 

 reach about opj)osite nostrils, those on side of bill not extending nearly so far. Such confor- 

 mation is discernible even in downy ducklings. Adult (J: Black ; neck and fore part of body, 

 most of tlie wing-coverts and lining of wings, and spot on each side of rump, white; white of 

 lircast tinged with creamy-brown; curly inner secondaries black (white in other Pjders). A 

 lilack V-shaped chevnm on chin, as in v-nigrum. Top of iiead and nape beautiful jirarl-gray ; 

 sides of head washed with sea-irreen ; eyelids and spot below eye black ; processes of hill frameil 

 about with glossy black. Bill reddish-orange; feet reddened, with dusky webs, iris yellow. 

 Length about 22.00; wing 11.00; tail 4.(K); bill along culmen 12."); along gape 2.25; from 

 apex of processes to tip aI)out the satne ; from feathers <m side of upper mandible to tip aliout 

 l.fiO. Aiiiilt 9 : Hardly distinguishable from other 9 Eiders in plumage, hut readily recognized 

 by the bill, as ab<n-e said. liill olive-brown, drying blackish ; feet dingy ochraceoiis. tlrying 

 darker; iris didl yellow; dimensions of bill, aside from the frontal proces.<es, nearly as in ^. 

 As usual, the drake moults to an "eelipse" |)lumaiie which in a general way is like that of the 

 duck. This beautiful Eider is cinumpolar, ahoimdiiiL' at various points along the shores of the 



