BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 143 



of Scotland. The eggs are like those of the Tufted- 

 Duck, but are larger. The down is lighter, with con- 

 spicuous pale centres. 



THE POCHARD 



(Fuligula ferina). 



The Pochard is one of the best-known members of the 

 group, but it is chiefly a winter visitor. It nests, however, 

 in many English counties, notably Norfolk, as well as in 

 the Scottish Borders, and perhaps in parts of Ireland. 

 The adult drake has a reddish-brown head and neck, 

 and a blackish breast sharply divided off from the rest 

 of the plumage, almost all of which, except the under-tail 

 coverts, is light in colour. The eye changes from the 

 orange-yellow of immaturity to deep ruby-red. The duck 

 is a very much duller bird altogether. The seven to ten 

 eggs are of a greenish-drab colour, and are usually rather 

 larger than those of the Scaup. The nest is placed among 

 sedges, rushes, &c., beside lakes ; the down is large and 

 very soft. 



THE EIDER=DUCK 



(Somateria mollissima). 



Plate 47. 



The name * Eider,' familiar to all from the famous down, 

 is associated in the minds of most English readers with 

 far northern lands — Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland, 

 the chief sources from which eider-down enters the world's 

 markets. Nor is this strange, since the whole south and 

 west of England are quite outside the Eider-Duck's nesting 

 area, and it is a bird which does not wander far south of 



