45° KING-EIDER. 



In Ireland, Kingstown Harbour, Derrynane in co. Kerry, Tralee 

 Bay and Belfast Lough have each yielded a specimen ; all of them 

 in winter and at long intervals. 



There is a King- Eider in the museum at Boulogne, the most 

 southern locality on record ; but even on the coasts of Holland, 

 Denmark and the Baltic this species is of very rare occurrence. It 

 is only a visitor to the Faeroes and the coast of Norway, and there 

 is no proof of its breeding in Iceland or Spitsbergen ; yet it 

 nests on Novaya Zemlya, and along the Arctic shores of Siberia as 

 far as Bering Sea. Crossing to the American side, it has been 

 found in summer nearly as far north as man has penetrated, and 

 it breeds as far south as the Province of Quebec. In Greenland it 

 nests near Godhavn and Upernavik, though by no means so plentiful 

 there as the Common Eider; while in winter it occurs on the coast 

 and also on the great fresh-water lakes down to the latitude of New 

 York, and has recently been recorded from California. 



The nest is similar to that of our Eider, and the eggs, which are 

 not known to exceed 6 in number, present the same varied shades 

 of green ; but they are decidedly smaller, measuring about 2*6 by 

 I '9 in. The food consists chiefly of crustaceans and molluscs. 



The adult male has the bill and the naked basal tubercle orange- 

 red, the latter margined with black ; cheeks white, with two green 

 patches ; top of the head and nape bluisli-grey ; lower neck, upper 

 back, scapulars, and wing-coverts white ; the ends of the elongated 

 scapulars and inner secondaries falling in curves over the wings ; 

 lower back and upper tail-coverts black ; quills and tail-feathers 

 dark brown, with a rufous tinge on the inner webs ; under the 

 chin a black chevron ; front of neck and breast white, the latter 

 tinged with creamy-buff; lower breast, belly, and under surface 

 black, except a white patch on each flank ; legs and toes orange-red, 

 webs darker. Length 24 in. ; wing 11-5 in. The female has the 

 beak greenish; the entire plumage of two shades of brown, the 

 darker colour occupying the centre of each feather of the back, 

 while the margins are bright rufous ; the brown on the head 

 and neck rather lighter. She is smaller and much ruddier than the 

 female of the Common Eider, and the central line of feathers on 

 the upper mandible runs down to the nostrils, whereas in the Com- 

 mon Eider it hardly reaches half way. The plumage of the young 

 drake is at first like that of the female, but later the head and neck 

 become yellowish-grey, spotted with black, and a great deal of the 

 latter colour appears on the upper as well as the under parts. 



