145 



Somateria spectahilis (L.), le Roi (1911), p. 243. 

 Somateria spectahilis L., Zedlitz (1911), p. 318. 



9, Tundra Boheman, July 3, 1921. 

 9, Tundm Boheman, Aug. 22, 1921. 



The King-Eider, observed in many places of Spitsbergen, especially 

 in Icefjord, where its nest is rarely found, however, breeds abund- 

 antly in Tundra Boheman. Le Roi's supposition (1911, p. 247): „Es 

 muss auffallen, dass die zahlreichen im Laufe des letzten Jahr- 

 hunderts nach Spitsbergen unternommenen wissenschaftlichen Ex- 

 peditionen uns über das Brutvorkommen der Prachteiderenten nur 

 so ungemein dürftige Aufschlüsse geliefert haben. Da diese Reisen 

 sich aber durchweg nur an die Küsten hielten, liesse sich die Ver- 

 mutung aufstellen, dass die Hauptbrutplätze der Art mehr land- 

 einwärts liegen, vielleicht z.B. auf dem ausgedehnten Sumpfgebiete 

 in der Tiefe der Dickson Bay. Hoffenthch geben spätere Forschungs- 

 reisen Aufschluss über diese Frage", is proved to be true, for Tundra 

 Boheman is one of these breeding locahties. 



I was not the first to find King-Eiders near Cape Boheman. Kolt- 

 HOFF here shot an old drake on July 19, 1898, saw then many 

 99 in the pools of the tundra, and found a pair breeding on one 

 of the Eiderholms on June 24, 1900 (Kolthoff (1903), p. 58): the 

 nest contained only one egg and little down. 



The splendid drakes with their high, yellow bills, grey heads and 

 dark wings (the wing of the cf Common Eider shows much more 

 white) are readily recognizable from afar. Already the first days 

 of my stay near Cape Boheman I saw male and female King-Eiders, 

 sometimes several drakes together with one duck, in the tundra. 

 Then I could not yet distinguish the female of the Common Eider 

 from the King-Eiderduck ; the difference is quite distinct, however, 

 if once known. 



On visiting one of the Three Isles on June 28, I here saw a 

 male King-Eider, associating with a female Eider. I could not see 

 any difference between this bird and the other females of the Com- 

 mon Eider, which were plentiful on this island. Some days later 

 on (June 30) I found in the tundra a nest of the King-Eider, at 

 once recognizable by the much smaller eggs and the dark down. 

 And now I also saw that the female King-Eider is distinguishable 

 from the Common Eiderduck 1°. by its size (the King-Eider is smaller), 

 2°. by the fact that at each side of the bill a large naked black 



10 



