THE EIDER DUCK. 113 



in 1846, as noted by Thompson, a circumstance 

 which, by some oversight, Mr. Patterson seems to 

 have overlooked, and has omitted this species from 

 his book. A second was shot by Mr. E. Hanks, 

 in October 1880, at Clontarf, co. Dublin, and was 

 presented by him to Mr. Bradshaw, of the Rectory. 



The adult male of the Surf Scoter has a con- 

 spicuous white spot on the forehead, and an elon- 

 gated white patch on the nape. 



THE EIDER DUCK (Somateria mollissima), although 

 a rare visitant to the Irish coast, has several times 

 been obtained. I bought a female bird of this 

 species from a dealer in Wexford, in January 

 1876, as " a very large wild duck." Mr. Nelligan, 

 of Tralee, has two in his collection, one shot near 

 Spa, Tralee Bay, in November 1.864, the other, a 

 male, killed near the same place a few years later. 

 In December, 1878, I shot a young female Eider 

 in Cork Harbour, and Mr. L. Patterson has noted 

 one as killed in Belfast Bay in 1877. Mr. Warren, 

 of Ballina, tells me that in March, 1870, a pair of 

 Eider Ducks, both male birds, were observed by 

 him day by day near the mouth of the Moy estuary. 

 One was shot, the other remained throughout the 

 summer and baffled all his attempts to obtain it. 

 The fishermen knew it as " the big black duck." It 

 used to feed up the river at high water, within a mile 

 and a half of the town of Ballina, but at low water 

 always remained outside the sand-bar in the sea. It 

 continued acting thus till October, when Mr. Warren 

 found it up a small creek, and after a long chase 

 shot it. He tells me this bird never tried to fly 

 from his boat, but dived continually, and when 



