142 



Harelda glacialis (L.), le Roi (1911), p. 227. 

 Clangula hyemalis L., Zedlitz (1911), p. 318. 



This beautiful duck breeds in small numbers in Spitsbergen in 

 the tundra's and on low islands with freshwater-lakes, in the latter 

 case generally in company of the Eider (le Roi (1911), p. 230). 



Tundra Boheman is known in literature as a breeding place of this 

 bird: in 1898 Kolthoff found several spec, here in the tundra and 

 LE Roi shot a female on one of the islands near Cape Boheman. 



Coming here in the end of June I saw a few pairs in the fjord 

 on different days e.g. June 28, July 1. They are easily recognizable 

 by their grey heads and their elongated tail-feathers. They were courting 

 at that time. Continually they uttered their pleasant metallic call. 

 Often they carried their tails vertically, while swimming. 



After the beginning of July I did not see any specimens near 

 Cape Boheman; on July 12 a few members of the Oxford Expe- 

 dition found a duck on her nest with 6 comparatively small eggs 

 in a very wet part of the tundra near our settlement. So I had 

 not seen anymore specimens, the females having withdrawn to 

 the tundra to incubate and the drakes having left them. The nest- 

 wall was composed of lichens and lined with down. The eggs were 

 taken by the Oxford Expedition on July 19. For two days I saw 

 the female on a freshwater-lake near the nest; then she disap- 

 peared. 



But for a female flying over Tundra Boheman on -July 27, I did 

 not see any more specimens of this interesting duck. 



Somateria moVissima borealis (Brehm), tiie Northern Eider. 



Somateria moUissima (L.), Trevor Battye (1897), p. 585. 

 Somateria moUissima (L.), Kolthoff (1903), p. 58. 

 Somateria moUissima moUissima (L.), Schalow (1904), p. 167. 

 Somateria moUissima borealis (Brehm), le Roi (1911), p. 233. 

 Somateria moUissima thulensis Malmgr., Zedlitz (1911), p. 318. 



9, Twin Rocks, Icefjord near Cape Boheman, Aug. 3, 1921. 

 cT (without primaries), eastern moraine Bore Glacier, Icefjord, 

 Aug. 6, 1921. 



The northern subspecies of the Eider is still very common in 

 Spitsbergen, though its number seems to have decreased, owing 



