Birds of Spitsbergen. 585 



8. SoMATERiA MOLLissiMA (Linn.). Common Eider. 



The Common Eider is, of course, generally distributed on 

 the islands of Spitsbergen. I only once found them nesting 

 on the mainland, when, at the foot of the Splendid Glacier, 

 1 met with two nests formed entirely of Andromeda tetragona, 

 and each containing three eggs. At the " goose islands'^ in Ice 

 Fjord, where Eiders and Geese once bred in large numbers, 

 not a goose or duck was to be found last year ; for foxes 

 had crossed in the winter and had two thriving litters. When 

 Mr. H. E. Conway and I were in camp at the Flower Garden 

 we had two Eider islands within a few yards of our tent, which 

 were a constant interest to us. The birds were absurdly 

 tame, and we used to sit among them and sketch. If we 

 approached a sitting duck too closely she would often cover 

 up her eggs very deliberately before she moved off. If, 

 however, an Eider (or for that matter a Long-tailed Duck) 

 is driven hurriedly off her eggs she invariably squirts over 

 them a stinking fluid. I cannot understand why this has 

 been disputed, for even if the fluid should miss the eggs 

 themselves some will most certainly be found on the down 

 of the nest, as every down-collector knows to his cost. 



-p9. SoMATERiA sPECTABiLis (Linn.). King-Eider. 



The question of the breeding or not of the King-Eider in 

 Spitsbergen has not yet been settled, but as a visitor to that 

 country the bird has long been known. With the exception 

 of two examples killed by Prof. Nordenskiold on the south- 

 east coast in 1858, and one by Dr. Malmgren in Safe Haven 

 in 1864 (see Newton, Ibis, 1865, p. 516), I do not find any 

 record of examples actually obtained until that presently to 

 be mentioned as killed by one of our party last year. The 

 King-Eider seems to have a more northerly range in Spits- 

 bergen than was supposed, for ]\Ir. Eaton has a note (Zool. 

 1874, p. 3817) upon this species: — '^ None were shot ; but 

 Lieut. Chermside said he saw some at South Gat, Wijde Bay, 

 and Lomme Bay.^^ 



Personally, I have seen them only in Advent Bay. In 

 the week of June 20th-28th several small companies of 



