146 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 
impermeable. Surely the sea bird has no right to complain of 
imperfect clothing or a deficient outfit ! 
The numerous members of the duck 
family, or the Anatide, mostly live 
during the summer in higher latitudes, 
and wander in winter in countless swarms 
towards sunnier regions; as, for instance, 
the Snow Goose and the Barnacle. 
Some remain throughout the year in 
Great Britain, some only during the 
SS winter; while others, which are more 
Snow Goose. particularly birds of the Arctic zone, but 
very seldom make their appearance in 
our southern clime. Most Anatidz prefer the lake, the river, 
the pond, or the morass; but many of them are true littoral 
birds, and spend a great part of their 
- time swimming and fishing in the 
sea. 
The Eider Duck, (Anas mollis- 
sima,) which attains nearly double the 
size of the common duck, inhabits the 
higher latitudes of Europe, Asia, and 
America. One of its most remarkable 
breeding places is on the small island 
of Vidoe near Reikiavik (Iceland), 
where it lives under the protection of the law; a person who 
should chance to kill a breeding bird having to pay a fine of thirty 
dollars. 
«As our boat approached the shore,” 
says Mackenzie, (“ Voyage through Ice- 
land,”) “ we came through a multitude 
of these beautiful birds, who hardly gave 
themselves the trouble to move out of 
Eider Duck. the way. Between the landing place and 
the house of the old governor the ground was covered with them, 
and it was necessary to walk cautiously not to tread upon their 
nests. The ganders went about with a cackle resembling the 
cooing of a pigeon, and were even more familiar than our 
common duck. Round about the house, on the garden wall, on 
the roofs, even in the inside of the huts and the chapel, they sat 
Barnacle Goose. 
