NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 5*| 



are procured by diving. The nest, made of moss and grass with a lining 

 of down, is placed on an island in a freshwater loch or among the 

 heather in the vicinity. From six to nine yellowish-white eggs are laid 

 early in June. 



Caithness, June. 



Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby §■ Captain S. G. Reid. 



No. 137. EIDER DUCK. (Somateria mollissima.) 



On the southern and western coasts of England and Wales this 

 species is only known as a winter visitor, but it breeds on the Fame 

 Islands, in Northumberland, and in suitable localities along the coasts 

 of Scotland. As a straggler it is occasionally met with on the Irish 

 coast. The food, obtained by diving, consists of shellfish and crustaceans 

 (which are often swallowed entire), as well as seaweed, etc. The nest, 

 usually situated among coarse herbage on low islands, is composed of 

 the stems of plants, grass, and fine seaweed, and contains from five to 

 eight green eggs. As incubation proceeds, a lining of down plucked 

 from the breast of the female is gradually added ; each nest contains 

 about three ounces of eider-down. As soon as the ducks begin to sit 

 the drakes leave them, and the latter may then be met with in small 

 parties off the coast. 



Island of Coll, Hebrides, May. 



Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby. 



No. 138. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 



(Mergus senator.) 



During the winter months this species is met with on the coasts and 

 tidal rivers of England and Wales, but in Scotland (including the Shet- 

 lands, Orkneys, and Hebrides), as well as in Ireland, it is resident and 

 breeds more or less plentifully on the freshwater lochs and on many 

 parts of the coasts. It is an expert diver and feeds chiefly on trout, 

 young salmon, and other small fishes. The nest (a hollow in the ground 

 thickly lined with down) is usually well concealed among heather, long 

 grass, etc., but is sometimes placed in an old burrow. The greenish- 

 buff eggs, rarely more than ten in number, are laid towards the end of 

 May, and the female undertakes the entire duties of incubation. A 

 male in winter plumage has been introduced into the Case to show the 

 difference in plumage between the two sexes. 



Island of Skye, Jul v. 

 Presented by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson. 



e2 



