KING EIDER 



319 



in a few moments and repeat the foregoing performance. Finally they all 

 took wing, uttering the croaking sound similar to the Pacific Eider." 



Whereas the other eiders seem to prefer nesting on small islands 

 along the sea coast, the King Eider nests on the mainland or on large 

 islands, frequently near the shores or on islets in fresh-water ponds and 

 streams. Its nests are usually widely scattered instead of being in col- 

 onies as those of the American and Northern Eiders often are. The 

 nest itself is similar to that of the American Eider but the down is 

 darker. From 4 to 7 eggs are laid; the usual number is 5. The eggs are 

 smaller than those of the American species and the colour is in varying 

 shades of olive buff. The average size is 2.66 by 1.76 inches. Incubation 

 is performed by the female alone as the males desert the females at this 

 time and gather in flocks by themselves on the sea, often far from land. 

 Manniche (1910) records that like many other birds the female King 

 Eider is irritable and quarrelsome at this time. One evening he observed 

 a female which had just left her nest. She flew quickly straight toward 

 him and so low that she seemed to touch the earth with the tips of her 

 wings. Uttering an angry grunt she flew to a pond where she quenched 

 her thirst and took a few quick dives to put her feathers in order, then 

 she swam straight toward him, hissing and growling the while; the 

 feathers on her head were erected, and she seemed to be very much dis- 

 pleased at his presence. Bent (1925) says that immature birds do not 

 breed during their first spring, and perhaps not during their second. 

 The young birds flock by 

 themselves until they become 

 of breeding age, which is 

 probably during their third 

 spring. "They do not go as 

 far north in the summer, are 

 never seen on or near the 

 breeding grounds, and they 

 usually winter farther south. 

 Most of the straggling inland 

 records are made by birds of 

 this class." 



The King Eider is sup- 

 posed to feed in deeper water 

 and to remain under longer 

 than any other duck with the 

 exception of the Old-squaw. 

 One of these birds that was 

 shot just after it came to the 

 surface in 30 fathoms (180 

 feet) of water had freshly- 

 swallowed molluscs in its gul- 

 let. Its food, like that of the 

 other eiders, is almost entire- 



