DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 201 
round and round her, guarding her from the atten- 
tions of rivals. This cooing noise may be heard 
for a long distance across a quiet loch, especially, as 
often happens, if several drakes are together. 
The favourite nesting places of the Eider Duck 
are low, rocky islands, well covered with marine 
vegetation, such as campion, thrift, and grass. Late 
in spring the flocks begin to separate more into 
pairs, although the immature non-breeding indivi- 
duals may be observed to continue gregarious all the 
summer, and not to visit the nesting stations. The 
laying season is in May and June. The female 
alone selects a site for and makes the nest, the 
male rarely, if ever, visiting the spot, although 
he keeps in attendance on the sea near the islands, 
and joins her when she comes to feed. The nest is 
made upon the ground, sometimes amongst the 
dense beds of campion, sometimes in a crevice of the 
boulders, or on a ledge of rock. Occasionally, as I 
remarked at St. Kilda, it may be placed on the top 
of cliffs hundreds of feet above the sea. It is large 
and well made, consisting of coarse grass, dry 
seaweed, heather, and bits of dead vegetation, 
profusely lined with down and a few curly feathers 
from the body of the female alone. This lining 
gradually accumulates as the eggs are laid. 
Numbers of nests may be found close together, 
especially where the birds are tolerably common, 
as, for instance, at the Farne Islands, where, by the 
way, the Eider is known as “St. Cuthbert’s Duck.” 
