DUCKS. 421 



female in the winter dress by the white shoulders and black 

 beak, with a transverse orange band. 



The summer dress of the male is : a pale grey spot around 

 the eye ; belly, under rump, and under tail coverts, white ; 

 sides of the belly blue-grey ; all the rest of the body black, 

 with rusty brown feather edges on the back and shoulders. 



The female, in summer dress, wants the long tail feathers ; 

 on the side of the neck a large grey spot ; a brown spot 

 at the root of the beak, and the back of the eye ; the rest 

 of the head, neck, and back, blackish ; shoulders with rusty 

 brown, and wing coverts with broad grey edges ; crop brown- 

 grey, which merges into the white colour of the rest of all 

 the under parts. 



Never seen in summer, except up in Lapland, where 

 they breed in the fell meadows, by the sides of the small 

 fell lakes. The old males leave the females at the breeding 

 time, and we used to see them in small flocks on the river 

 down near the village, while the old females were busy with 

 their broods up on the fells. 



Egg very like that of the pintail, but smaller. 



Subgen. 4. Somateria. 



Beak swollen, and elevated at the base ; nearly straight, 

 extending up the forehead, where it is divided by an angular 

 projection of feathers, narrow at the end ; nail strong, and 

 hooked; lamellge coarse; nostrils small, medial; tail four- 

 teen feathers ; male variegated, black and white ; female 

 grey spotted. 



277. SOMATEEIA MOLLISSIMA, Leach. Ejder. The Eider 



Duck. D. F. 



Breed on the sea coast, never in fresh waters. 



Length 2 ft. 3 in. ; tarsus 2 in. ; beak, from the end 



of the forehead feather ridge, 2 in. 2 1. ; first wing 



feather rather shorter than the second, which is longest. 



In the adult male the dusky green bill is swollen at the 



base (but without any knob as in the king duck), the nail 



is white ; irides brown ; upper part of the head velvet black ; 



