810 



U. S. p. R. R. ESP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



SOMATEKIA V-NIGRA, Gray. 



Pacific Eider. 



Somateria V-nigra, Grav, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1855, 212 ; pi. cvii. Kotzbue Sound, NW. coast of Am. 



Sp. Ch. — Similar to S. mollissima, but larger, and with a V-ehaped black mark on chin, as in S. spectabilis. The white longito- 

 dinal mark on the top of the head narrower than in rnoUissima ; the black lesB rounded posteriorly. The bill of male is orange 

 yellow, with white nail ; of female dusky green. Feet brownish yellow. 



Hub. — Kotzbue Sound, NW. coast of America. 



The above description, (taken from G. R. Gray,) refers to a well marked species which 

 appears to replace the common eider on our northwest coast. It is essentially an eider, in 

 all respects, with the black V-shaped marks on the chin seen in the king duck. The female 

 is brown, as in the eider. 



SOMATEEIA SPECTABILIS, Leach. 



King EideT. 



Anas spectabilis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 195. — Gmelin, I, 567. 



Somateria spectabilis, Leach, Flem. Philos. Zool. 1822?— Swains. F. Bor. Am. II,U831, 447.— Bon. List. 1838.— 



EiToN, Mon. Anat. 1838, 148.— Brandt, Mem. Ac. St. Pet. Se. Nat. vi, Ser. VI, 1849, 5. 

 FuUgula (Somateria) spectabilis, Bonap. Syn. 1828, 389. — Nuttall, Man. II, 1834, 414. 

 Fuligula ^ctabilis, AoD. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 523; pi. 276.— Ib. Syn. 1839.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 347. 



pi. 404. 

 King Duck, Pennant, II, 554. 

 Sp. Ch. — Body and wings black ; the portion anterior to the shoulder joint, interscapular region in part, most of neck and 

 throat, white ; the jugulum with a creamy tinge. A narrow border to the frontal processes of the bill and their interspace. 

 Small space round the eye and a V-shaped mark on the chin black. Top of head and nape bluish ash, slightly spotted with 

 black. Midddle wing coverts, tips of secondaries, axillars, and most of under surface of wing, with a patch on each side of the 

 rump, white. Sides of head glossed with transparent emerald green. 

 The scapulars have the black tinged with slate. 

 Length, 21.50 ; wing, 10,70; tarsus, 1.86; commissure, 2.53. 

 I]ab. — ^Arctic regions of northern hemisphere. Pacific coast. ? 



I have not at hand the female of either this species or the eider. They differ in being chiefly 

 brown. 



The tertials in this species are bent outwards, so that the points project beyond the edge of 

 the wing, about the middle of the outer primary. The frontal process of the bill is dilated and 

 nearly quadrilateral ; it is bent abruptly upwards, so as to be out of line with the culmen. The 

 nostrils are large, oval, and open. 



List of specimens. 



