COMMON EIDER. 



Somateria mollissima h ore alls A. E. Brehm. 



The adult male of the common eider duck has the 

 crown deep black — split behind in the middle line by a 

 strip of white or greenish-white — and reaching forward 

 from the eye to the bill. The upper part of the back of 

 the neck and the feathers back of the ears are pale green. 

 The rest of the head and neck, with the fore-breast, 

 back, scapulars, wing-coverts, tertiary feathers and sides 

 of rump, white, often tinged with yellow or creamy 

 buff. The breast is sometimes pink tinted. The other 

 under parts, the greater wing-coverts, secondaries, mid- 

 dle of rump and upper tail-coverts, black; quills of the 

 wing and tail, brownish-black ; bill, dull orange-yellow ; 

 legs and feet, orange. 



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