PACIFIC EIDER. 231 



mouths of rivers on the coast. The females now begin 

 to moult, and like the young possess only one means of 

 escape from their enemies — great skill in diving. The 

 Eskimo amuse themselves at this time trying to strike 

 the birds with spears, but are rarely able to hit one, so 

 quickly do they vanish beneath the surface. The young 

 are not able to fly much before the middle of September, 

 and toward the end of this month all desert the main 

 shores and are only found off the outer reefs and small 

 islands. In the autumn it is said the male assumes a 

 plumage very similar to that of the female, and the young 

 males only attain the fully adult breeding dress at the 

 commencement of the third year. As a rule the Pacific 

 Eider is very shy and difficult of approach, except when 

 on land during boisterous weather. At such times the 

 birds gather on the rocks on the shore in large num- 

 bers, and the natives are accustomed to catch many by 

 throwing hand nets over them. A bright night, when 

 the wind is blowing hard, is the best for this purpose, 

 and the flocks seem so stupid, as their members are all 

 huddled together, that one is permitted to approach close 

 to them. This species is also averse to flying in bois- 

 terous weather, and, as the body is heavy the birds ap- 

 pear to have difficulty in taking wing from the sea, and 

 will flap along over the surface, and then all dive simul- 

 taneously. They descend to a great depth, and remain 

 under water for a long time, swimming great distances 

 before rising. 



The principal food of this Duck is mussels and other 

 bivalves, and it seeks these sometimes in water thirty or 

 forty feet deep. During the breeding season, the note 

 usually uttered when the sexes are together is a 

 kind of Coo. The Pacific Eider is a handsome Duck, 

 resembling somewhat the eastern species and weighs 



