96 EIDER DUCK. 



a few spots of black still remaining on the neck ; the crown black, and 

 bifid at the back part. 



" The young of both sexes are the same, being covered with a kind 

 of hairy down : throat and breast whitish ; and a cinereous line from 

 the bill through the eyes to the hind head."* 



AKAS MOLLISSIMA. 



E I D E R D U C K. 



[Plate IXXI. Fig. 3, Female.] 



The difference of color in these two birds is singularly great. The 

 female is considerably less than the male, and the bill does not rise so 

 high in the forehead ; the general color is a dark reddish drab, mingled 

 with lighter touches, and everywhere spotted with black ; wings dusky, 

 edged with reddish ; the greater coverts and some of the secondaries 

 are tipped with white ; tail brownish black, lighter than in the male ; 

 the plumage in general is centred with bai"s of black, and broadly bor- 

 dered with rufous drab ; cheeks and space over the eye light drab ; 

 belly dusky, obscurely mottled with black ; legs and feet as in the 

 male. 



Van Troil, in his Letters on Iceland, observes respecting this Duck, 

 that " the young ones quit the nest soon after they are hatched, and 

 follow the female, who leads them to the water, where having taken 

 them on her back, she swims with them a few yards, and then dives, and 

 leaves them floating on the water ! In this situation they soon learn to 

 take care of themselves, and are seldom afterwards seen on the land ; 

 but live among the rocks, and feed on insects and seaweed." 



Some attempts have been made to domesticate these birds, but 

 hitherto without success. 



* Synopsis, iii., p. 471. 



