470 ANATIDiE. 



Davis Strait, where Mr. L. Kumleiu observed several ex- 

 amples while the Howgate Polar expedition was jammed in 

 the ice ; and he adds that an adult male, shot in Disco Fjord 

 in August 1878, is in the collection of Governor Fencker of 

 Godhavn : apparently the first record of this species in 

 Greenland. 



Von Middendorff describes the nest of Steller's Eider as 

 cup-shaped and lined with down, placed in the moss on the 

 flat ' tundras ' : the eggs, seven to nine in number, of a pale 

 greenish-grey colour ; average measurements 2*2 by 1'6 in. 

 Three are figured in his ' Sibirische Reise ' (tav. 23, figs. 

 3-5), and one, from the same source, by Prof. Newton 

 (P. Z. S. 1861, pi. xxxix. fig. 4). 



It is stated of this species that it flies in flocks, and 

 never enters the mouths of rivers. Its food is marine 

 insects and mollusks ; and its cry is said to be similar to 

 that of the Common Teal, but harsher. The species has 

 been assigned to several genera, but it varies little, except 

 in the shape of the bill, from typical Somateria, in which 

 genus the Author placed it. 



In the adult male the bill is brownish-black ; the irides 

 pale brown ; round the eye a ring of black ; between the 

 beak and the eye, nearly meeting across the forehead, a 

 patch of pale green ; on the occiput a band of pale green 

 with black ends ; crown, cheeks, and part of the neck behind 

 white ; below the white on the neck there is a collar of 

 bluish-black, which ends in a broad stripe, passing the 

 whole length of the middle of the back and upper tail- 

 coverts, this latter portion tinged with raven-blue ; the wing- 

 primaries and tail-feathers brown ; the secondaries in part 

 white, with a dark blue outer web forming a rich speculum ; 

 the terminal portions white ; each inner secondary feather 

 white on the inner web, rich blue on the outer web, and 

 curved downwards towards the end ; wing-coverts white ; 

 scapulars elongated, and, like the inner secondaries, with 

 the narrow inner web white, the broader outer web rich 

 blue ; chin and throat rich bluish-black : below the broad 

 collar is a narrow band of white, the colour extending 



