320 BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



ly animal. The stomach content analyses of 85 specimens collected dur- 

 ing January, February, March, May, June and November, principally 

 in Alaska, but also in three States, two Canadian Provinces, and Siberia, 

 revealed the following approximate percentages: molluscs (including 

 blue mussel, 20), 46; crustaceans (including king crab, 9), 19; echino- 

 derms (including sand dollar, 8, and sea urchin, 6), 17; insects, 5; sea 

 anemone, 2; miscellaneous animal food, 6; total animal food, 95 per cent. 

 Eelgrass, 2; algae, 2; miscellaneous plant food, 1 total vegetable food, 5 

 per cent. Approximately three-fifths of the birds had fed exclusively on 

 animal food. Gravel represented about 24 per cent of the total stomach 

 content, but the gizzards being only partly filled accounted for this per- 

 centage being higher than was the case of the other eiders or the scoters. 



"The flight of the King Eider is similar to that of the other eiders, 

 but the male can be easily recognized, even at a long distance, by the 

 larger amount of black in the back and wings. The adults ,are usually 

 very shy, but the immature birds are very often unsuspicious. As this 

 species has to fly inland to its breeding places, it has less fear of the land 

 than the common eider and does not object to flying over points of land 

 which lie in its line of flight. . . . As a diver it is an expert and can pene- 

 trate to great depths; birds are said to have been taken in gill nets at a 

 depth of 150 feet. In diving it partially opens its wings and probably 

 uses them, as well as its feet, in swimming under water" (Bent, 1925). 



The large, fatty knob at the base of the bill of the male of King 

 Eider is considered to be a great delicacy by the Eskimo of Hudson Bay 

 and the Eastern Arctic islands. Upon killing a bird of this species the 

 Eskimo immediately bites off this knob and chews the tough, greasy 

 morsel with evident relish. Many museum specimens thus show evidence 

 of having passed through an Eskimo's hands. 



