EIDER DUCK. 89 



EIDER DUCK. 



ST. CUTHBERT'S DUCK. 



PLATE CXCIII. FIGURE I. 



Anas mollissima, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



Somateria mollissima, FLEMING. SELBY. 



r I iHE down with which the nests of these birds are 

 lined is made an article of commerce, and in the 

 countries where they are plentiful the people rob the 

 nests two or three times in the season. The eggs 

 are also taken at the same time, so as to make the 

 birds lay again, 'but it is generally found that if they 

 are robbed more than twice, they begin to desert the 

 place, and if pillaged oftener they quit it entirely.' 



The Eider Duck begins to pair in March, and to 

 lay about the beginning of the last week in May, that 

 is to say, in this country. Incubation lasts from three 

 weeks to a month. The young, as soon as hatched, 

 are led by the dam to the water, and in some instances 

 it appears certain that they must be carried by her 

 in her bill. The male bird at this period leaves his 

 mate, and repairs to the open sea. 



In England the Eiders build so far south as the 

 Fern Islands and Coquet Island. In one of the former 

 the remains of an old lighthouse appears to be a 



VOL. III. N 



