300 BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



Northern Eider 



Somateria mollissima borealis 

 (so-ma-te"-re-a, mo-lis-i-ma, bo-re-ay-lia) 



Colour Plate No. 24. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Somateria, from Greek, somatos, meaning the body, and erion, meaning wool, 

 down (referring to the down of the body); mollissima, Latin, meaning very soft, 

 referring to the softness of the down; borealis, Latin, meaning northern. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



Same as those of American Eider. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULT MALE. WINTER PLUMAGE: Identical with American Eider except (a) 

 sea-green of hindhead does not extend as far forward under black cap, towards 

 bill, (b) membranous processes on sides of bill, much narrower, terminating 

 posteriorly in sharp points instead of in broad rounded ones, (c) feathered portions 

 on sides of upper mandible do not extend as far towards nostrils as do those 

 of American Eider (fig. 51), (d) often found with black V on throat present in 

 Pacific and King Eiders. 



ECLIPSE PLUMAGE: The moult into the eclipse takes place in July and August 

 and the moult out of eclipse during November and December. Plumage changes are 

 the same as those described under the American Eider. 



ADULT FEMALE. Identical with female American Eider except for difference 

 in bill-processes, as mentioned above under "Adult Male." 



JUVENILE. The immature plumage and the sequence of moults are similar 

 to those of the American Eider, which are described under that subspecies. 



SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION 



See American Eider. 



FIELD MARKS 



(To be looked for on the northeast Arctic coasts, and, in winter, south along 

 the Atlantic coast to Northern New England.) Field Marks are the same as those 

 of the American Eider. 



VOICE. Male, a hoarse grating sound, kor-er-kor, kor-kor. Female, a higher 

 note, kar-er-kar, kar-kaa. Courtship voice of male, a soft cooing, almost dove-like 

 sound, pa-whoo, or aa-u, or oo-oo. 



LIFE STORY 



The Northern Eider differs but little from its fellow subspecies, the 

 American Eider. Though it associates on both its summer and its winter 

 grounds with the American variety, its range on the whole is more 

 northerly and extends across the arctic regions overlapping somewhere 

 in the Arctic Archipelago that of the Pacific Eider. Provided open water 



