CUTHBERT EIDER. 



The trachea of the male is of an equal diameter 

 through its entire length, and is composed of hard, 

 entire, and cylindric rings, which are lined by a 

 membrane : the lower larynx is dilated in front, and 

 forms on the left side a hemispheric and slightly 

 elevated bony protuberance : at the lower part of the 

 glottis is a prominent triangular support. 



This highly useful and valuable species is a native 

 of the frozen regions of the north : it is extremely 

 abundant in Iceland, Lapland, Greenland, and Spitz- 

 bergen, on the shores of Baffin's and Hudson's Bays, 

 and, in fact, in all the frigid zone : it is also very 

 numerous in the Hebridal Islands and the Orcades, 

 but becomes rare as we advance to the south : in 

 England it is very scarce, but few individuals having 

 been killed therein ; one, however, is recorded by 

 Montagu as having been shot in the winter of 1807, 

 on the southern coast of Devonshire; and Latham 

 mentions that several were killed on the coast of 

 Kent, near Sandwich, by the late Mr. Boys : it is 

 said to breed in the Fern Islands on the coast of 

 Northumberland, in the months of June and July : 

 the female lays five or six pale greenish-olive eggs 

 in a nest composed of marine plants, and comfortably 

 lined with a beautiful down of most exquisite fine- 

 ness, which is highly esteemed from its excessive 

 lightness, elasticity, and useful qualities. The nest 

 is usually formed on small islands, not far from the 

 shore, and sometimes not far distant from human 

 habitations. Occasionally two females, it is affirmed, 

 will lay their eggs in the same nest, in which case 



