436 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Here the old bird will often take one or more of her ducklings on her back to rest 

 and sleep, sinking her body low in the water to allow the little creature more 

 easily to mount. One brood only is reared in the year. The male does not 

 desert the female after the eggs are laid. He never comes near the nest, but is 

 usually not far away on the sea close by, and when his mate leaves the eggs to 

 feed he invariably joins her. I should remark that the Eider is gregarious during 

 this period, and numbers of nests may be seen almost side by side, in some cases 

 two females sharing the same nest. As soon as the young are reared the birds 

 quit the land, and undergo their annual change of plumage for the most part out 

 at sea. 



Diagnostic characters. (Nuptial plumage), Somateria, with the upper 

 back, mantle, and falcated scapulars white (adult male) ; with the feathers on the 

 forehead only extending about half as far as those on the side of the upper 

 mandible (adult female). Length, 25 inches. 



