172 The IVafer-fowl Family 



beaches, when they are frequently killed in large 

 numbers by the natives, for they seem to hesitate 

 to fly. Like the other members of its family, this 

 species is a powerful diver and secures its food of 

 mollusks and Crustacea in deep water. The flight 

 is in lines low down, the bird uttering a guttural 

 note. The natives depend at times on this bird 

 for food and use the skins for various ornaments. 



KING EIDER 

 (^Sotnaieria spedabilis) 



Adult male — Feathers surrounding the base of maxilla and a spot 

 beneath and behind the eye, black ; a large, black, V-shaped 

 mark on the throat ; entire top of head and upper part of nape, 

 delicate pearl-blue ; upper and frontal portion of the cheeks 

 below the eye, sea-green ; remainder of head, neck, and middle 

 of back, smaller wing-coverts, and a patch on each side of rump, 

 white; breast and jugulum, cream-bufT; remainder of plumage, 

 dull black ; bill, flesh color ; sides of upper mandible and soft, 

 frontal lores, bright orange; iris, yellow; feet, dusky orange; 

 webs, dusky. 



Measurements — Length, 23 inches; wing, 11 inches; culmen, i.io 

 inches; tarsus, 1.75 inches. 



Adult female — Head, chin, and throat, dark buff, streaked with 

 brown ; darkest on top of head ; breast and sides, light buff, 

 with irregular markings ; greater coverts and secondaries, black, 

 with whitish tips forming two narrow bars across the wing; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts, dark buff, with black bars ; tail, 

 black ; under parts, dark brown ; bill, greenish yellow ; legs and 

 feet, ochre, with dusky webs ; iris, brown. 



Measurej/ie7its — 'LtngXh, 23 inches; wing, 10.75 inches; culmen, 

 1.25 inches; tarsus, 1.75 inches. 



Downy young — Upper parts, dark brown, more rufous than in the 

 other eiders ; cheeks, throat, and under parts, buff. Its mark- 

 ings are more distinct than in the young of other eiders. 



