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and Iceland and probably does so occasionally in 

 Shetland. It visits us in winter and remains till late 

 in spring, seldom being very numerous, and less so on 

 the west and south coasts than on the east and north. 

 The drake is a pied bird, beautifully variegated with 

 black and white, and has a fine long pointed tail and 

 a pink middle to the beak. The duck is nearly brown, 

 with white lower parts and no elongated tail-feathers. 

 The curious loud note is thought by the Shetland folk 

 to sound like a repetition of the word " calloo " ; the 

 food appears to consist more of insects and crustaceans 

 than of plants ; the flight is strong and direct. The 

 nest, placed among rough vegetation, consists of little 

 but down, the eggs are rather long and of an unusual 

 greyish green colour. In America this bird is known 

 as the " Old Squaw." 



Those who visit the islands of north Britain 

 are almost sure to have met with that nice old bird 

 the Eider Duck (Somateria mollissima), if we may be 

 allowed to use the term. When protected, as on the 

 Fame Islands off the Northumberland coast, the sitting 

 duck is so tame that she may often actually be handled, 

 and when she has hatched her young, they may all be 

 seen comfortably swimming close to the sea-weed-covered 

 reef on which the observer is walking. The above- 

 mentioned locality is the bird's only breeding station 

 in England, with the exception of the links near Holy 

 Island, but it occurs on both sides of Scotland up to 

 Shetland and strays to Ireland and southern England 

 in the cold season. The flight is heavy and the voice 

 very harsh ; the food consists of mollusks, crustaceans, 

 and sea-weed, obtained from salt water, for the birds are 

 seldom driven inland even as far as the mud flats. The 



