110 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



Mr. C. F. Winch mentions seeing two or three pair of these 

 birds with young off Saddleback Ledge in July, 1907, which 

 proves that they are yet breeding in Jericho Bay, and adult 

 Eiders were seen by him elsewhere. 



Subgenus ERIONETTA Coues. 



162. Somateria spectabilis (Linn.). King Eider. 



Plumage of adult male: head bluish gray, changing to greenish on 

 cheeks ; neck, upper back, sides of rump and wing coverts white ; front and 

 sides of breast creamy buff ; the space about base of upper mandible, a dis- 

 tinct large V mark on the throat, the scapulars, secondaries, tertials, prim- 

 aries and coverts, pelvic region of back, tail and coverts, sides and under 

 parts black ; scapulars washed with slate ; the most mature plumage of the 

 male bird of this species has been stated by Mr. Norton to be indicated by 

 the modification of the outer tertials into a peculiar downward curve of the 

 shafts and a great production of the barbs of the outer web ; in the specimen 

 he describes I would best describe this modification as producing a tuft like 

 bunch of feathers on each wing ; most King Eiders taken are not mature 

 enough to more than faintly show this modification. Plumage of adult 

 female : head ochraceous, streaked with black ; throat buffy ochraceous ; 

 back black, the feathers rufous and ochraceous margined ; below washed or 

 barred with brownish gray, rufous, ochraceous and dark, not greatly differ- 

 ent from the females of the other species. Immatiure plumage : similar to 

 female plumage, but the immature males sometimes show an outlined dark 

 V on their throats previous to taking on other adult characters. Wing 10.50 

 to 11.50 ; culmen 1.25 ; tarsus 1.83. 



Geog. Dist. — Northern parts of northern hemisphere, breeding from Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence northward ; wintering south as far as Long Island and the 

 Great Lakes ; casual in Virginia and once in Georgia. 



County Records. — Cumberland; rare in winter, (Lord). Knox; winter, 

 (Rackliff). Sagadahoc; three specimens in ten years, (Spinney). Wash- 

 ington ; not rare in winter, (Boardman). 



Though of general occurrence along the coast from Decem- 

 ber until late March and even mid April, this species is usually 

 quite rare with us. They are said to feed in rather deeper 

 water than the other Eiders, and Mr. Norton has recorded the 

 fact that certain individuals had been eating sea-cucumbers 

 ( Pentacta frondosa ) to the practical exclusion of other material. 

 While a few I have examined also evidenced some fondness 



