176 FULIGULIN^E. SOMATERIA. 



tal membranes full ; claws small, slender, arched, com- 

 pressed, obtuse, that of the third toe with the inner edge 

 expanded. Plumage dense, elastic, soft, glossy ; feathers 

 of the head and neck slender and blended ; wings short, 

 convex, narrow, pointed, the first and second quills long- 

 est ; inner secondaries elongated and tapering ; tail ge- 

 nerally small, much rounded, or tapering. 



The Fuligulinee are for the most part marine birds, 

 inhabiting bays and estuaries, where they dive in shallow 

 water in quest of their food, which consists of sea-plants, 

 mollusca, and Crustacea. Some of them approaching 

 nearer to the Anatinse, are often seen on fresh water, 

 where they feed chiefly on mollusca. They are all ex- 

 pert divers, swim with ease, sit low on the water, owing 

 to the breadth of their bodies, walk little and ungrace- 

 fully, but have a rapid direct flight. They nestle on the 

 shores of the sea, on islands, or by fresh-water lakes or 

 rivers, often lining their nests with down plucked from 

 their bodies. The eggs are moderately numerous, smooth, 

 thin-shelled, of one colour, white or greyish, greenish or 

 bluish. The young betake themselves to the water pre- 

 sently after birth. The males desert the females when in- 

 cubation has commenced. The flesh of these birds is 

 generally rank and very dark coloured, but that of some 

 is highly esteemed on account of its peculiarly rich fla- 

 vour. The species are pretty numerous, and scarcely two 

 agree precisely in the form of the bill, so that genera 

 have been very unnecessarily multiplied. 



GENUS CXXIX. SOMATERIA. EIDER-DUCK. 



Birds of large size, having the body of an elliptical form, 

 bulky, and much depressed ; the neck of moderate length 

 and thick ; the head large, oblong, and compressed. Bill 

 nearly as long as the head, higher than broad at the base, 

 depressed toward the end, where it is considerably narrowed, 

 but rounded ; upper mandible with the lateral sinus very 



