622 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Ross states that large flocks of males, and others consisting of females with 

 their young, were often met with far in the Atlantic ; and the Alaska seal- 

 hunters occasionally meet with them at sea. It dives very expertly, espe- 

 cially when eluding an enemy during the time of its annual change of 

 quill-feathers. Its food consists chiefly of mollusks and crustaceans, but 

 doubtless shell-fish are also eaten. Hart, one of the naturalists attached 

 to the last British Arctic Expedition, found shrimps in the stomachs of 

 this bird. It never appears to eat vegetables of any kind. The note of 

 the King Eider is said to have much resemblance to that of the common 

 species. 



Dixon when at St. Kilda had an opportunity of studying the habits 

 of this bird. He writes, "I first became aware of the fact that the 

 King Eider frequented St. Kilda when trying to shoot the Common Eiders 

 swimming in the Bay. On one occasion I lay concealed for two hours 

 watching the little party of ducks swimming just outside the breakers. 

 Two of the pairs were King Eiders. They were not more than seventy 

 yards away from me several times, so that I had an opportunity of carefully 

 observing them through a powerful glass. They mingled freely with the 

 Common Eider, and did not differ in any perceptible manner in their 

 habits. It was a pretty sight to watch these rare and charming birds 

 sporting in the heaving waves, the males and females swimming side by 

 side. As the mighty rollers broke upon the shore the birds dived through 

 the bright green wave just before it turned over. They were busy feeding 

 on the small animals which were disturbed by the breaking waves. They 

 floated light as corks on the heaving sea, now high up exposed to view, 

 then deep down in the trough of the waves. As soon as they caught a 

 glimpse of me they swam further from shore with great speed, although 

 without seeming to exert themselves. I observed them day by day in one 

 particular part of Village Bay where the shore was sandy and the sea 

 full of surf. The flight of this bird is very similar to that of the Common 

 Eider, and taken close to the surface of the water/' 



In its mode of nesting the King Eider 'closely resembles the Common 

 Eider. Middendorff says that he met with this bird on migration on the 

 Boganida on the 18th of June. Ten days later the first pairs were seen on 

 the Taimur, in lat 74, and soon afterwards large flocks appeared. He 

 found a nest containing fresh eggs on the 7th of July ; and early in August 

 he saw many females swimming down the river with their young broods. 

 Captain Feilden found it common at Floeberg Beach in lat. 82^ ; they 

 arrived in flocks at the end of June, most of which were killed by the 

 hunters, but the survivors began to nest in suitable localities on the coast, 

 and fresh eggs were obtained from the 9th to the middle of July. Mac- 

 Farlane found the King Eider breeding on the Arctic coast near Franklin 

 Bay, and he describes the nest as a mere depression in the ground fifty 



