v^o 



DUCK GROUP 



extreme northern lands, but likewise Quebec ; while in winter these 

 birds are found on the great Canadian lakes, in the province of New 

 Jersey, and even in California. Since only a few king-eiders visit even 

 Scandinavia in winter, it is natural to expect that the species would 

 be merely an occasional straggler to the British Islands, and as a 

 matter of fact this is actually the case, eighteen authentic records of 

 its occurrence being mentioned in Harting's British Birds during 

 the past century, commencing with the year 1813. Of these, four 



occurred in Orkney and one 

 in Shetland in November 

 1832, May 1868, December 

 1869, March 1884, and 

 February i 899, respectively. 

 In addition, two drakes were 

 shot at Tentsmuir in Fife in 

 1872 and 1899, ^'"'c former 

 being in the Fldinburgh 

 Museum and the latter 

 mentioned in the Auuals 

 of Scottish Natural History. 

 A young drake was also seen 

 in the spring of 1883 near 

 the Churchyard Rocks off 

 the western promontory of 

 i'omona in Orkney. A 

 specimen was killed off 

 Graemsay, Orkney, in 1906, 

 another in Islay the same 

 year, while a third is re- 

 corded from Ireland in 1897. 

 In both sexes the feather- 

 ing on the forehead is con- 

 tinued on to the beak as far as the hind border of the eye, but that on 

 the cheeks stops short at the gape. The most conspicuous feature of 

 the drake is the orange-red beak, with a pronounced swelling at the 

 root. As regards the colour of the plumage, the top of the head is 

 bluish grey, while the checks are white with a greenish tinge ; the neck, 

 the upper part of the back, and the fore part of the breast are white, the 

 latter being, however, tinged with rich cinnamon-buff ; there is a white 

 patch on the flank, placed farther back ^lan in the true eider ; the elon- 

 gated scapulars, the lower part of the breast, the abdomen, and the 



WARD STUDIOS 



KING-KII)KK (l)KAKKI 



