146 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



the favom'ite places ; but where these are not available 

 she nests on low moors at the side of estuaries, or even 

 among the sand-dunes along the coast. 



Eider-down is mouse-coloured, but each little feather 

 has an indistinct paler centre. Lightness, softness, and 

 elasticity are its chief qualities. A dozen nests supply 

 about a pound and a half of down — worth about a guinea 

 — which is enough to stuff a bed-quilt. 



Only one brood is reared ; but when robbed, the Eider- 

 Duck lays again. In Scandinavia the first two clutches of 

 eggs are taken for food, and the accompanying down is 

 carefully collected ; but the duck is allowed to rear her 

 third brood in peace, and any down there may be is not 

 collected till afterwards. The story that she plucks her 

 mate*'s breast for these later nests must be regarded as 

 a myth, probably having its origin in the plucked appear- 

 ance a moiilting drake might present about that time. 



Incubation seems to begin before all the eggs are laid, 

 and it lasts for over a month. The young ducklings 

 are dark brown above, with the under-parts and a streak 

 over the eye of a paler hue. When only a few hours 

 old they are led to the water, and from that time till 

 they breed, three years later, they scarcely ever come 

 to land. 



THE SCOTER 



(OEdemia nigra). 



The Common or Black Scoter is a marine diving duck 

 of very dark plumage. It breeds sparingly on some of 

 the low-lying lochs round Caithness and on the high- 

 lying lochs of Inverness - shire down the line of the 

 Caledonian Canal. It has bred in Ireland. In winter 

 it is abundant off our coasts, especially on the east of 



