616 BRITISH BIRDS. 



SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. 



COMMON EIDER. 



(PLATE 59.) 



Anser lanuginosus, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 294 (1760) ; Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. fyc. Brit. 



Mus. p. 37 (1816). 

 Anas mollissima, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 198 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



Omelin, Latham, Temminck, (Bonaparte), (Dresser), (Saunders), &c. 

 Somateria mollissima (Linn.), Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 664. 

 Anas cutberti, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 235 (1826). 

 Somateria st. cuthberti (Pall.), Eyton, Cat. Brit. B. p. 58 (1836). 

 Somateria thulensis, Malmyr. Kongl. Vet.-Ak. CEfv. p. 380 (1864). 



The Eider can only be regarded as a rare straggler to England south 

 of the Humber. It appears accidentally off the low-lying eastern shores, 

 and off those of the south and west counties of England, and is only 

 known as a rare visitor to the Irish coasts. It breeds on the Fame 

 Islands, very sparingly in the Firth of Forth, in the Orkneys and Shetlands, 

 and in suitable localities throughout the islands off the west coast of 

 Scotland, extending to those of the St.-Kilda group. In winter it wanders 

 further from its usual haunts, and then occurs as a straggler on various 

 parts of the southern coasts. 



The Eider appears to be an Atlantic species, breeding as far east as the 

 shores of the Kara Sea, and as far west as the Coppermine River. It 

 breeds as far south as Labrador and Newfoundland, and on the coasts of 

 Greenland up to lat. 81 1. It is specially abundant in Iceland, the Faroes, 

 Spitzbergen, and Franz-Josef Land, and breeds in various suitable locali- 

 ties on the islands off the coast of Norway and Denmark. Wherever 

 there is open water throughout the year it is a resident ; but it migrates 

 from localities where the sea freezes in winter, to the Baltic, the shores of 

 the North Sea, and the English Channel. There are records of somewhat 

 doubtful authenticity of young birds having been driven, in severe weather, 

 as far south as Provence and the Swiss Lakes. On the American continent 

 it is found in winter as far south as the coasts of Maine. 



The Eiders breeding in Labrador and Newfoundland are said to differ 

 slightly from those breeding further north, and may possibly be regarded 

 as subspecifically distinct under the name of Somateria mollisima dresseri, 

 but both forms are said to occur in Davis Straits and Cumberland Sound. 

 It is not known that the females may be distinguished ; but in the males of 

 the latter form the feathers on the forehead project in a very narrow 



