EIDER. 



IT was for a long time even unsuspected that there was 

 more than one species of the Common Eider Duck, 

 so well known throughout all the world for the valuable 

 quality of its down. But when the birds from the Atlan- 

 tic coasts of North America were critically compared 

 with those from Europe, sufficient differences were dis- 

 covered to necessitate the recognition of two distinct 

 species. The plumage of the two forms does not differ, 

 but the characters that separate them are found in that 

 part of the maxilla, or upper half of the bill, which ex- 

 tends toward the head. In the present species, which 

 is the same as the European bird, this portion of 

 the bill is narrow and terminates in a point, while in the 

 American species, this part is broad and has a convex 

 end. The Common Eider ranges throughout northern 

 Europe, and is found in Greenland and on the Ameri- 

 can coast from Labrador south in winter along the 

 shores of Maine, and in the Arctic Ocean as far west as 

 the Coppermine River in the longitude of Great Slave 

 Lake. The down of this bird, which is plucked from the 

 breast of the female for a lining to her nest, Is a most 

 valuable article of commerce, and in order to procure it 

 in sufficient quantity, the birds may almost be said to 

 have become domesticated in Iceland, Norway, and other 

 parts of Europe, where they are in the habit of breeding 

 in large numbers. Accommodations are provided for 

 them, the turf is scraped away in squares of about eight- 

 een inches each, or similar spaces are arranged with 



