54. SOMATERIA. 



435 



upper mandible spread out into a shield on each side, reddish 

 orange-colour ; irides j'ellow ; legs and feet orange-red, membrane 

 darker. Total length about 24 inches, wing 11-5, tail 4'25, 

 culmen 1*25, tarsus 1*75. 



Female. liesembles that of S. mollissima, but is ruddier and 

 smaller, and besides may be distinguished by the central line ol 

 feathers on the culmen running down to the nostrils, while in the 

 Common Eider it hardly reaches halfway. General plumage foxy 

 rufous ; head and neck with narrow black streaks ; feathers of the 

 back and upper wing-coverts with black centres ; breast and flanks 

 with crescentic black bands ; lower breast and abdomen darker ; 

 greater wing-coverts and quills blackish brown, the greater wing- 

 coverts and secondaries with a narrow white band at the tip ; 

 tertials somewhat bent downwards and edged with rufous-brown ; 

 under wing-coverts greyish brown ; axillaries white, dusted with 

 grey ; tail blackish brown : bill greenish brown ; iris dull yellow ; 

 feet dull ochre. Total length 22-5 inches, wing 10'5, culmen 

 1-25. 



Young in first plumage resembles the females, but has traces of 

 the dark lines on the throat and margin of the bill (Seehohm). 



Males in first nuptial dress have very small shields at the base of 

 the bill, and only a few of the wing-coverts are white. 



Males in moulting dress closely resemble males in first plumage, 

 but may be distinguished by the broader shields at the base of the 

 biU. 



Young in down has the bill narrower than in the Common Eider ; 

 the down of the central ridge runs down to the nostrils in the same 

 characteristic manner as the feathers in the adult ; the upper parts 

 are only a trifle more rufous, but the cheeks, throat, and underparts 

 are much lighter and yellower than in the Common Eider. 



IJab. Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere ; in America, 

 occasionally in winter to New Jersey, the Great Lakes, and Cali- 

 fornia ; in Europe, rarely in the British Islands, France, and 

 Scandinavia. 



a,h S ad. sk. 

 c. c? imm. sk. 



d-h. cJ $ ad., 



(S juv. et pull. 



sk. 

 i, k. S ad. et 



cJ juv. sk. 

 /, VI, n. (S ad., 



2 juv., et c? 



imni. sk. 

 0. 2 ''^^- sk. 



J), q. (^ fid. sk. 



et 2 ad. .-^t. 

 r, s. d $ ad. sk. 



No locality. 

 X. America. 



N. America. 



H. J. Elwes, Esq. 

 Capt. CollinsoD [P.]. 



Kodiak Island, Alaska, Dec. Salvin-Godmau Coll. 



(W.J. Fisher). 

 Whalefish Island (Dr. Robert- The Admiralty [P.]. 



son), 



Franklin Bay, July {R. Mac- Sal\-in-Godman Coll. 



Farlane). 

 Repulse Bay. Dr. J. Rae [P.] 



Lat. 82= 30', June [11. W. The Admiralty [P.]. 

 Fcilden). 



2 F 2 



