THE KING EIDER 387 



THE KING EIDER. 



(Somateria spectabilis.) 



The Eiders of North America include five 

 species. Of these the American, Greenland 

 and King Eiders are visitors or residents on 

 the northeastern coast. The present species is 

 another ''Sea Duck." It lives mostly in the 

 open ocean and spends comparatively little time 

 ashore even for one of his seafaring race. His 

 is a life of perfect independence. He is at 

 home wherever he alights on "blue water" and 

 never a worriment is his — never a fear of pur- 

 suing gunner comes into his mind to ruffle his 

 placid days. Often large flocks of the King 

 Eiders are found in mid-ocean, hundreds of 

 miles from any land, feeding upon the drifting 

 seaweed which furnishes abundantly every- 

 thing needful. 



Their maritime existence and the rarity of 

 their visits ashore, together with their heavy 

 bodies and short legs combine to make their gait 

 nearly as graceful as that of their human rep- 

 resentative, the ' ' old salt. ' ' In fact, it is a most 

 clumsy "waddle" when compared with the easy 



