Duck-shooting 167 



below breast, deep black ; breast, cream color ; tail, pale brown ; 

 bill, legs, and feet, olive-green ; a black V sometimes found on 

 throat. 



Measurements — Length, 22 inches; wing, 12 inches; bill, culijien, 

 1.90 inches; from tip to end of frontal angle, 2.75 inches; 

 width of angle, .30 inch; tarsus, 1.80 inches. 



Adult fetnale — Head and neck, rufous brown, streaked with narrow 

 black lines ; rest of plumage, chestnut-brown, the upper parts 

 and breast barred with black ; the under parts, grayish, with 

 dusky bars ; wing, like the back, with two whitish bars ; prima- 

 ries and tail, blackish brown ; bill, legs, and feet like those of 

 the male, but darker. 



Measuret/ients — Similar to the male. 



Downy young — Plain, gray-brown, lighter beneath ; a distinct, light, 

 superciliary stripe. 



Eggs — Four to six in number, pale green in color, and measure 3 by 

 1.90 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from Labrador north to Cumberland and the 

 coast of Greenland, and probably in Hudson Bay. Winters in 

 southern Greenland and south rarely to Massachusetts. 



The eider of the Atlantic Coast was for a long 

 time supposed to be identical with the European 

 bird, but two distinct species are now separated. 

 A subspecies of the European, or common eider 

 of northern Europe, ranges on the Atlantic Coast 

 of North America from Greenland to the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence, and the American eider, whose 

 range is from Labrador to New England. To 

 the native of the North the eider is essential, pro- 

 viding him with food and raiment. The eggs and 

 flesh are almost staple articles among the Eski- 

 mos, while the down is part of his commerce. In 

 various parts of Iceland and Norway these birds 



