146 



patch extends down, which gives a dark aspect to the whole head, 

 3°. because they have a small knob on their bills, being probably 

 larger in old than in young females, 4°. because the underparts 

 are darker and the mantle is more rufous. 



Now it also appeared to me that the 'male King-Eider, observed 

 on the Three Isles, mated with a female Common Eider and next 

 day (July 1) I could ascertain this fact on a second visit to the 

 Isles, where I could observe both birds during a long time. Eggs 

 were not found ; they had probably been collected by our workmen 

 on a previous visit, which is a great pity. 



Le Roi, who found the King-Eider breeding in Advent Bay records 

 that he has seen flocks composed of male King- and Common 

 Eiders and so does Jourdain („Country Life" of Sept. 10, 1921). 

 This I never saw near Cape Boheman, where they were numerous. 



In Tundra Boheman I saw three nests of the King-Eider. One 

 found on June 80 was situated right on the water's edge by a 

 shallow loch, where I saw the female sit on her nest. This con- 

 tained five small eggs. These are the same eggs, which I showed 

 on July 12 to some members of the Oxford Expedition and which 

 are now in the collection of this Expedition. Jourdain has described 

 and reproduced the nest in the above mentioned number of 

 „Country Life". 



Another nest was situated in dry ground near the eastern shore 

 of Tundra Boheman and contained 6 eggs. The 9, belonging to it, 

 was shot by one of the labourers on its nest on July 3. Its skin 

 is now in the Amsterdam museum. 



On July 12 Jourdain, Pagit Wilkes and myself chanced upon a 

 King-Eider's nest with 5 eggs, situated in the dry tundra between 

 Gassioj^e. This nest is also mentioned in the above-cited article of 

 Jourdain. 



From these observations it follows that the complete clutch 

 consists of 5 or 6 eggs. Koenig's expedition (1907) found two nests 

 both with three eggs in Advent Bay. These clutches were not yet 

 complete: the nests were lined with little down. 



In the beginning of July the males began to unite in small or 

 large troops: then the females were all incubating. On July 4 I 

 saw a large flock, consisting of + 30 males near the eastern 

 moraine of the Bore Glacier. In Tundra Bay the males were very 

 abundant then. After my first Icefjord-trip (with the Oxford 

 Expedition) I saw no more males, except three spec, near Cape 



