420 NATATORES. 



Their food consists principally of mollusks found in the Arctic 

 Sea. 



The EIDER DUCK, <S. mollissima, (Lat. very soft,) is remarka- 

 ble for its exquisite and elastic down, so valuable in commerce, 

 and so essential in preserving the proper balance of animal heat 

 in the icy regions in which it dwells. The beak is prolonged 

 on the forehead into two narrow flat plates, which are separated 

 by an angular projection of the frontal plumage. This species 

 is, in severe winters, seen as far South as the Capes of the 

 Delaware. Northern explorers have repeatedly attested its 

 value. Dr. Kane writes thus of its appearance. "The Eider 

 Duck is an awkward animal on the wing, and hardly graceful 

 in the water. The position of the legs, set very far back, throws 

 the body, Penguin-like, nearly upright; and they move about 

 erect, but easily, and with animation." His party gathered two 

 hundred eggs from a gleaned field, one morning before break- 

 fast. A whaler which they met, had four hundred and fifty 

 dozen eggs on board : formerly, from a quarter to half a million 

 of eggs were, during a single season, taken from Melville Island. 



The Duck and Drake build the nest in company, and line it 

 with down. This is of two kinds, the dead down and the live 

 down ; the former is taken from a dead bird, and is of inferior 

 quality ; the latter is that which the Duck strips from herself to 

 cherish her eggs; its lightness and elasticity are such, that it is 

 said, two or three pounds of it squeezed into a ball, will swell 

 out to such an extent as to fill a case large enough for a foot 

 covering of a bed. The skin of the Eider Duck, with the 

 feathers on, forms an article of commerce, particularly among 

 the Chinese. The length is twenty-five inches. 



The KING DUCKS, S. spectabilis, (Lat. deserving notice,) are 

 also found in the Arctic regions, but in their migration do not 

 pass so far South as the Eider Duck. According to Sir John 

 Ross, they afford a valuable and salutary supply of fresh pro- 

 vision to the crews of vessels employed in the Northern Seas, 

 and their down is equal to that of the Eider Duck. 



The SURF DUCK, Oidemia, (Gr. from oideo, to swell,) seek their 

 food at sea chiefly, and have their name from frequenting its 

 shores. The prevailing color is black in the male and brown in 

 the female. The generic name was suggested by the swollen 

 appearance of the beak. The species O. fusca, (Lat. tawny,) 

 has a very thick and close plumage, and is called the VELVET 

 DUCK. The down is similar to that of the Eider Duck. They 

 are very numerous at Hudson's and Baffin's Bay, The length 

 is twenty- four inches. 



