SPECIES 13. ANAS MOLL1SS1M.1 



EIDER DUCK. 

 [Plate LXXI. Fig. 2, Male.} 



L'Uye duvetyou V Eider, Buiss. vi, p. 294. 2?7. 29, 30. BUFF, ix, 

 ^. 103. pi. 6. P/. w/. 209. GratJ Mack and White Duck, 

 EDW. pi. 98. BEWICK, n,y. 279. Jlrct. ZooL JVo. 480. LATH. 

 St/w. in, p. 470. PEALE'S Museum, No. 2706.* 



THE Eider Duck has been long celebrated in Europe for the 

 abundance and excellence of its down, which for softness, 

 warmth, lightness, and elasticity surpasses that of all other Ducks. 

 The quantity found in one nest more than filled the crown of a 

 hat; yet weighed no more than three quarters of an ounce;! and 

 it is asserted that three pounds of this down may be compressed 

 into a space scarce bigger than a man's fist; yet is afterwards so 

 dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square. J 



The native regions of the Eider Duck extend from 45 north 

 to the highest latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and Ame- 

 rica. Solitary rocky shores and islands are their favourite haunts. 

 Some wandering pairs have been known to breed on the rocky 

 islands beyond Portland in the district of Maine, which is per- 

 haps the most southern extent of their breeding place. In En- 

 gland the Fern Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, are an- 

 nually visited by a few of these birds, being the only place in 

 South Britain where they are known to breed. They occur 

 again in some of the western isles of Scotland. Greenland and 

 Iceland abound with them, and here, in particular places, their 

 nests are crowded so close together that a person can scarcely 

 walk without treading on them. The natives of those countries 



* .flnas mollissiina, GJIEL. Sijsl. i, p. 514, JVb. 15 Ind. Om. p. 845, No. 35. 



t Pennant. } Salern. Orn. p. 416. 



