618 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Crabs, often of considerable size, are swallowed whole ; Saxby mentions 

 having found in the stomach of one of these birds a crab measuring two 

 inches across the shell. The young, even in their downy plumage, are fed 

 upon similar food to that taken by adults. 



The note of the Eider is a harsh grating kr, kr, kr but when courting 

 his mate, the male utters a harsh loud cooing sound, like ah-oo, as he 

 swims round and round her, and repeatedly moves his head up and 

 down. 



About the middle of March the flocks of Eiders that have lived in 

 company during the winter break up, and the birds pair, although the 

 business of nest-building is not commenced for nearly two months after- 

 wards. The favourite nesting-places of the Eider are small uninhabited 

 islands, those which are flat and well covered with herbage being preferred. 

 Sometimes the nest is made on the summit of the rocks, perhaps two 

 hundred feet above the sea ; more often it is built on or amongst old ruins, 

 as, for instance, at the Fames; and less frequently it lays its eggs on 

 the heath-covered slopes near the sea, occasionally at some distance from 

 the water. At the Fames most of the Eider ducks make their nests 

 amongst the bladder campion, which grows in great profusion on some 

 of the islands ; but many birds seek nesting-sites in the clefts of the rock 

 close to the water. In the British Islands and on the Norwegian coast 

 fresh eggs may be obtained from the middle of May to the middle of July, 

 the time being so protracted because the bird is rarely allowed to sit on 

 her first clutch ; but further north they are not laid until the end of June. 

 In localities where it is not very abundant the Eider does not breed in 

 colonies, but nests are found here and there in the most suitable places. 

 Where the bird is common, especially where it is protected for commercial 

 purposes, great numbers of nests are placed almost side by side ; and in 

 some cases two females share the same abode, sitting amicably on their 

 eggs. The nest of the Eider is often a rather substantial structure made 

 of dry grass, heather, bits of seaweed, and stalks of campion and other 

 marine herbage. The lining of down is gradually added when the full 

 complement of eggs is almost completed. Nests that I examined on 

 the Fame Islands were made principally of dead and living stalks of 

 the sea-campion and a little grass, lined with the down from the female. 

 Sometimes the nest is very slight, being little more than a hollow in the 

 ground or amongst the rocks, lined with a profusion of down and a few 

 feathers. 



The eggs of the Common Eider are from five to eight in number, and vary 

 in colour from creamy grey to greyish green. They vary in length from 

 3'3 to 2'8 inch, and in breadth from 2'05 to 1*9 inch. The down varies 

 from greyish brown to brownish grey, with obscure pale centres. The 

 eggs of the King Eider may readily be distinguished by their smaller size. . 



