338 NATATORES. SOMATERIA. EIDER. 



explored. They are strictly confined to the ocean, feeding 

 upon Crustacea, molluscous shell-fish, &c., which they ob- 

 tain by diving. Their flight is strong and rapid, but seldom 

 at any great elevation. 



COMMON EIDER. 



SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA, Leach. 

 PLATE LXX. AND LXX*. 



Somateria mollissima, Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 119. sp. 176< Shaw's Zool. 12. 



224. pi. 60. 

 Anas mollissima, Linn. 1. 178. 15 -Gmel. Syst. 1. 514 Lath. Ind. Orn. 



2. 845. sp. 35 Wils. Amer. Ornith. 8, 122. pi. 91. f. 2. and 3. 



Anas St Cuthberti, RaU Syn. 141. A. 3 Will. 278. t. 77. 



Anser lanuginosus, Briss. Orn. 6. 294. 13. t. 29. 30. 



Oie a Duvet, ou Eider, Buff. Ois. 9. 103. t. 6 Id. PL Enl. 289. and 209. 



male et femelle. 



Canard Eider, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 2. 848. 

 Die Eidergans, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. 926. 

 Eiterente, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 2. 507. 

 Great Black and White Duck, Edward's Glean, t. 98. m. and f. 

 Eider or Cuthbert Duck, Penn. Br. Zool. 2. 581. No. 271 Arct. Zool. 2. 



No. 480 Will. (Angl.) 362. 76 Lath. Syn. 6. Heft. 29 Id. Sup. 274. 



Lewirfs Br. Birds, 7 pl 244 Mont. Ornith. Diet, and Sup Bewick's 



Br. Birds, ed. 1826. 2. p. t. 305 Wils. Amer. Ornith. 8. 122. pi. 91. f. 2. 



male, f. 3. female. Shaw's Zool.. 12. 224. pi. 60. male. Flem. Br. Anim. 



1. 119. sp. 176. 



PROVINCIAL Eider, Cuthbert Duck, Culbert Duck, Dunter Goose. 



IN Britain the range of this valuable species extends to 

 about the 55th degree of north latitude, to the southward of 

 which it becomes of very rare occurrence. Its limits, how- 

 ever, towards the pole are scarcely ascertained, as it has been 

 found, I believe, in the highest latitudes yet penetrated by 

 navigators. In Iceland, Spitzbergen, and other arctic re- 

 gions of Europe, it is very abundant ; and in those cold coun- 

 tries is highly beneficial to the inhabitants, on account of its 

 feathers, elastic down, eggs, &c. It is equally common in 

 parallel latitudes of the North American continent, and, in 

 fact, may be considered a general inhabitant of the Frigid 



