78 ; 



Eider down, is copied from a sketch taken on the 

 Island of Fidra, in the Firth of Forth. The nest 

 was placed on a small ledge in the face of the rock 

 at the height of forty or fifty feet above high-water 

 mark. 



I have never visited the island during the 

 spring or summer without discovering a nest in that 

 identical spot ; on the last occasion in 1874 there 

 were two placed side by side. 



The female was shot in Gullane Bay in the 

 Firth of Forth in May, 1867, and the nest and eggs 

 were obtained on the Island of Fidra the following 

 month. 



EIDER, (AUTUMN). 

 Case 93. 



I think it probable that the male Eider is at 

 least two, and possibly three, years old before he 

 assumes the full, white-backed plumage. 



During summer young males may be seen in 

 various stages of plumage, the white becoming more 

 conspicuous by age. 



The case shows a male killed in September 

 and a pair of young birds in their nestling feathers. 



The specimens were shot in the Firth of Forth 

 near the Island of Ebris in September, 1874. 

 See " Eouffh Notes/' Yol. III., Plates <J and 10. 



PINTAIL. 

 Case 94. 



This handsome duck is more common in the 

 northern parts of the island ; a few however 

 generally show themselves during the winter all 

 round the coast, while in unusually severe weather 

 I have found them plentiful in both Norfolk and 

 Sussex. 



On the north-east coast of Scotland these birds 



