80 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



are placed on the ground in clumps of grass or beneath overhanging stones. 

 The five to nine eggs are an olive drab or greenish color. Size 2.70 x 1.85. Data. 

 Point Barrow, Alaska, June 15, 1898. Six eggs. Nest of moss and down in a 

 hollow in dry tundra. Collector, E. A. Mcllhenny. 



159. Northern Eider. Somateria mollissima borealis. 



Range. North Atlantic coast, breeding from Labrador to Greenland and 

 wintering south to New England. 



A large Duck similar to the next species, but with the base of the bill differing, 

 as noted in the description of the following species, and with a more northerly 

 distribution. The nesting habits are the same as those of the other Eiders. 

 Six to ten eggs generally of a greenish drab color. Size 3. x 2. 



I 60. American Eider. Somateria dresseri. 



Range. Atlantic coast, breeding from Maine to Labrador and wintering south 



to Delaware. 

 This species differs from the preceding only in the fleshy part of the base of 



the bill, which extends back on each side of the forehead, it being broad and 



rounded in this species 

 and narrow and point- 

 ed in the Northern or 

 Greenland Eider. This 

 species, but more 

 especially the North- 

 ern Eider, are the ones 

 chiefly used for the 

 eider-down of com- 

 merce. The preceding 

 species is often semi- 

 domesticated in Green- 

 land, the people pro- 

 tecting them and 

 encouraging them to 

 nest in the neighbor- 

 hood. They make 

 their nests of seaweed 

 and grass and warmly 

 line it with down from 

 their breast ; this down 

 is continually added 



[Greenish drab.j 



to the nest during incubation until there is a considerable amount in each nest, 

 averaging about an ounce in weight. The birds are among the strongest of the 

 sea ducks and get their food in very deep water. Their flesh is not good eating. 

 Their eggs number from five to ten and are greenish drab. Size 3. x 2. 



161. Pacific Eider. Somateria v-nigra. 



Range. North Pacific from the Aleutian Islands northward, and east to Great 

 Slave Lake. 



This bird is, in plumage, like the Northern Eider, except that it has a black 

 V-shaped mark on the throat. They nest sparingly on the Aleutian Islands, 

 but in great numbers farther north on the coast about Point Barrow. Their 

 habits, nests and eggs are precisely the same as those of the eastern forms. 

 Their eggs number from five to ten and are of olive greenish color. Size 3. x 2. 

 Data. Cape Smythe, Alaska, June 8, 1900. Eight eggs. Nest a hollow in the 

 moss, lined with grass and down. 



