466 HOW KILLED BY THE ESQUIMAUX. 



eider duck; its length being two feet, whilst the latter 

 measures about two feet two inches. From the two birds 

 being frequently seen in company, and from their appearance 

 and habits being much alike, the Icelanders and Norwegians 

 entertain the strange notion that the king duck is a won- 

 (Jerfully ancient eider, which in his old age has acquired the 

 remarkable orange-coloured comb, or knob, resembling a 

 crown, on his head; and in consequence the Icelanders call 

 him Aeder-Kongr, or Eider-King. Hence not improbably 

 his English name. 



As with the eider, the plumage of the female king duck 

 differs widely from that of the male ; her prominent colour 

 being brown. She forms her nest in the same manner as 

 the eider, lines it with her own down, and lays from five to 

 six eggs of a similar colour, but of somewhat lesser dimen- 

 sions than those of that bird. 



Fabricius tells us the king duck is a first-rate diver, and 

 so capital a swimmer, that it is not easy to make it take 

 wing. In Greenland, he says, a number of the natives in 

 their canoes, armed with darts, often pursue a flock of these 

 birds with loud shouts, when being too much frightened 

 to fly, they dive at once to the bottom. But their course 

 being marked with air-bubbles, it is not difficult to follow on 

 their tracks. As for a while, however, they only occasion- 

 ally stick their bills above the surface to take breath at which 

 time it is not easy to strike them with effect the chase is 

 somewhat protracted ; but when at length they become so 

 exhausted that their whole bodies appear above water, they 

 are easily destroyed. 



