208 A HANDBOOK OF EUROPEAN BIRDS. 
Genus SOMATERIA. 
EIDE® DUCK. 
Somateria mollissima (Zzvz.). 
Adult Male: Forehead and crown black with a whitish 
line on the hind crown; hinder part of cheeks and nage pale 
green ; throat, hind neck, back, scagulars, innermost (elongated) 
secondaries, most of wing-coverts and a patch on either side 
of the rump w&zte ; upper breast suffused with rich reddish- 
buff; wing and tail-quills dark brown ; rest of plumage chiefly 
black ; bill dull green ; legs and feet pale olive-green ; irides 
hazel-brown. Length 24 to 26 inches ; culmen (from forehead) 
2°25 svn B25 5 teal 4.3 tarsus. 17s. 
Adult Female: Plumage reddish-brown, marked on head 
and back of neck with streaks of dusky-brown, elsewhere 
barred transversely with black; wing and tail-quills dark 
brown; greater wing-coverts and some of secondaries fur- 
nished with white tips. 
Immature Males: At first like adult female, but when 
changing in their first winter the head and neck are mottled 
with two shades of dark brown, with a few white feathers 
appearing through in different parts ; lower portion of neck, 
and upper part of back, mottled black and white; wing- 
coverts and inner secondaries becoming white; rest of 
plumage black ; legs and bill greenish-grey. ‘The pure white 
colour is assumed by slow degrees and the appearance of the 
adult birds is not attained until the third winter (Saunders). 
“Young in first plumage: Closely resemble adult 
females, but the two white alar bars are very indistinct and 
the margins of all the feathers are grey instead of chestnut ” 
(Seebohm). 
Distribution: Breeds in the northern and arctic portions 
of the Western Palearctic region, migrating southward in 
autumn, also found in Arctic America. 
Habitat: Almost exclusively confined to the sea-coast. 
KING EIDER. 
Somateria spectabilis (Zznz.). 
Adult Male: Crown and nape pearl-grey, cheeks washed 
