448 EIDER DUCK. 



species, Somateria v-fu^i^ruin, the male of which has a black chevron 

 under the chin. Our Eider is met with in Greenland up to 81° N. 

 lat., and westward as far as the Coppermine River in Arctic America ; 

 but on the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Maine it is represented 

 by S. drcsseri of Sharpe, a slightly different form, vvhich will be 

 probably exterminated by the Indians and fishermen at no distant 

 date. In winter the Eider occurs irregularly on the coasts of 

 Europe, and exceptionally as far south as the Mediterranean ; 

 sometimes also, though rarely, on inland waters. 



The nest is usually placed among coarse herbage and rocks on 

 low sloping islands, and at no great distance from water ; but it has 

 occasionally been found a mile or two inland, and also at more than 

 1,000 feet above sea-level. The materials are grasses and fine sea- 

 weed, and to these the celebrated down is gradually added during 

 the progress of incubation, which lasts a month ; the eggs, 5-8 in 

 number, vary from greenish-grey to a somewhat bright green : average 

 measurements 3 in. by 2 in. Towards the end of May, when the 

 ducks begin to sit, the drakes leave them and are found in small 

 parties. Where protected, the birds are extremely tame, and the 

 females may even be stroked by the hand while sitting on their nests, 

 which are frequently in close proximity. In Iceland the average 

 production of down by each bird is one-sixth of a pound. The food, 

 obtained by diving, consists of mussels — some of which, swallowed 

 entire, are 2\ in. in length — and crustaceans ; while in confinement 

 worms, slugs, and the raw flesh of other birds are greedily devoured. 

 Several broods have been hatched in the Zoological Gardens. 



Adult male in very early spring : bill greenish ; down its centre 

 halfway to the nostrils is a wedge of feathers which, like those of the 

 sides of the bill, forehead and crown, are black ; the latter bisected 

 by a white line running to the pale green nape, and divided by 

 another white line from a green patch, on each side of the neck ; 

 cheeks, back, smaller and median wing-coverts white ; long sickle- 

 shaped secondaries yellowish-white ; quills, rump and tail nearly 

 black, with a patch of white on each side of the latter ; breast rosy- 

 buff; abdomen black; legs and toes dull green. In summer the 

 white feathers are shed, and the back becomes nearly black, but the 

 plumage of the female is not assumed. Length 25 in. ; wing 11 in. 

 The female is chiefly pale rufous-brown, with darker bars — similar 

 to, but far less ruddy than the female of the King Eider; quills and 

 tail-feathers dull black. 



The front figure in the wood-cut represents an old male, and an 

 immature bird of the same sex is in the background. 



