KING EIDER. 467 



of the plumage of two shades of brown, the darker colour 

 occupying the centre of each feather of the back, the margins 

 being bright rufous ; the brown on the head and neck rather 

 lighter in colour than the other parts of the body. She may 

 be distinguished from the female of the Common Eider by 

 the central line of feathers on the upper mandible running 

 down to the nostrils, whereas in the Common Eider it hardly 

 reaches half way : she is also ruddier and smaller. 



Young males at first resemble the females ; at a later 

 period one described by Richardson had the head and neck 

 dusky yellowish-grey, crow^ded with black spots ; upper 

 plumage mostly pitch black, with yellowish -brown edgings ; 

 breast and flanks yellowish-brown, spotted and barred with 

 black ; belly of the same colours intimately mixed ; bill as 

 in the female. 



In a downy nestling in the British Museum, the bill is 

 narrower than in the Common Eider ; the down of the central 

 ridge runs down to the nostrils in the same characteristic 

 manner as the feathers in the adult ; the upper parts are 

 only a trifle more rufous, but the cheeks, throat, and under 

 parts are much lighter and yellower than in the preceding 

 species. 



The representation of the lower portion of the trachea 

 here given is of a natural size. 



