352 BEARING ITS PROGENY TO THE WATER. 



acquired strength. But this I doubt, consideriiit;' that 

 the delay, if there be any, arises from the pggs not being 

 all hatched, as is frequently the case, at one and the same 

 time. From the considerable elevation at which the nest 

 is occasionally placed, and the broken nature of the ground, 

 it is hard to conceive how she ever gets them down to 

 the water, it being quite certain that without aid of some 

 kind they could never of themselves find their way there ; 

 but bow their transit is effected appears somewhat of a 

 mystery. I was assured, however, by a very respectable 

 man, the keeper of the lighthouse at Winga, that he 

 himself had often seen the old bird thus occupied. " She 

 tlirew the chicks over her neck, as a fox would a goose," 

 such were his vei'y words, " and thus carried them to 

 their own element." 



It is generally believed in Scandinavia that when her 

 progeny are in jeopardy, the mother, as is said of the 

 Merganser, takes them on her back, and, either swimming 

 or diving, thus conveys them to a place of security ; but 

 this is probably a i'allacy. It is true that when the body 

 of the old bird is submerged, which is always the case 

 when danger threatens, and the brood are collected about 

 her, it looks as if they were in the situation described, 

 but in reality, I take it, they are in the act of swimming, 

 and not resting on her. If such were the case, they must, 

 of necessity, hold fast by their bills, which they clearly 

 never do, their heads being always quite erect. 



Tbe Eider Duck is readily domesticated, as I can 

 state from experience, having myself reared several. 

 When in confinement they feed freely on worms, shell- 

 fish, and the like ; on almost everything, in short, that 

 is given to them. 



In parts of Norway the down of the Eider forms a 

 valuable article of commerce. That obtained from the 

 nest, which is plucked by the bird itself from her own 



