54. SOMATEKIA. 429 



conspicuous white patch on either side of the rump ; smaller and 

 median wing-coverts white, the greater coverts like the secondaries 

 brown-black, primaries slightly paler ; inner secondaries white, 

 broadly edged with brown-black on the outer web ; tertials white, 

 slightly falcated ; marginal under wing-coverts pale brown, edged 

 with white, the central ones and axillaries white ; tail greyish 

 brown : bill dull oUve-green, almost olive-yeUow in old birds, nail 

 brownish white ; feet light olive-green, claws brownish black ; iris 

 brown. Total length about 22 inches, wing 12, tail 5, culmen 2*2, 

 tarsus 1*8. 



Female. General plumage pale rufous-brown, head and neck with 

 narrow black streaivs along the centres of the feathers, but the 

 upper part of the head blacker ; upper and under parts banded with 

 black and rufous-brown ; the black bauds on the back broader ; 

 greater wing-coverts and secondaries uniform dark brown, with 

 narrow white tips, forming two white alar bars ; under wing- 

 coverts brown, edged with rufous, the central ones and axillaries 

 dull grey ; primaries and tail-leathers dark brown ; abdomen 

 almost uniform brown : bill and feet as in the male. 



Young in Jirst jfjlamaye closely resemble adult females, but the 

 two white alar bars are very indistinct, and the margins of all the 

 feathers are grey instead of brown-chestnut. Mules may be distin- 

 guished from females by the nearly black sides of their heads. 



Males in Jirst nujjtial dress may be distinguished by the remains 

 of greyish-brown feathers on both the white and black parts. 



Males in moulting-dress closely resemble males in first plumage, 

 but generally have some white and black feathers of the nuptial 

 dress remaining. 



Yoimj in down have the upper parts dark brown, and the under- 

 parts, as well as a broad streak over each eye, pale brown. 



The American Eider Duck, so far as I can see, is scarcely 

 different from the European ; but, according to Mr. Ridgway, 

 it differs in having the " bill orange-yellowish in life ; the breast 

 paler buff, the tertials more falcate." As to the dimensions of the 

 bill, I cannot tind that there is any constant difference. 



Hah. Arctic regions of the Western Patearctic E.egion, from 

 Iceland eastwards as far as the shores of the Kara Sea ; it migrates 

 in winter to the Ealtic, the shores of the North Sea, and the 

 English Channel ; occasionally straying to Southern Europe. The 

 Nearctic form, doubtfully distinct, inhabits Eastern Arctic America, 

 including Greenland ; south to Northern Labrador in summer, and 

 to the northern boundaries of United States in winter. 



ad. (S ? ad. sk. No locality. Purchased. 



e. Pull. St. Purchased. 



f,g. § ad. et cf Reawick, Shetlands, Aug. Theodore Fisher, Esq. 



imm. St. [P.]. 



h, i, k. (S $ ad. Damsa Holm, Orkneys. Purchased. 



et puU. St. 



/. S juv. sk. Stromness, Orkneys, Oct. Seebohm Coll. 



{J. H. Dunn). 



