KING-EIDEK 141 



few occasions in Norfolk, a bird taken at Breydon Harbour 

 on July 25th, 1813, being probably the earliest British 

 specimen recorded (Yarrell, 'British Birds'). The following 

 counties have also yielded specimens : Northumberland 

 (Fame Islands), Durham, Yorkshire, Essex and Suffolk. 

 A female bird, purchased in Leadenhall Market, is now in 

 the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney. 



In Scotland, a few examples have been obtained from 

 the coasts of Haddingtonshire, and from the Firths of Forth 

 and Tay ; there are several records also from the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands. Recently, viz., February 25th, 1899, a male 

 was taken at Lerwick, one of the last-named group of 

 islands (Harting, ' Handbook of British Birds,' 1901, p. 466). 



In Ireland the King-Eider is exceedingly rare ; it has 

 been procured on three or four occasions, and only once 

 from the west coast. Its occurrences are as follows : 

 A female obtained in Kingstown Harbour (Dublin), about 

 October 1st, 1837 (Thompson) ; another female obtained in 

 Belfast Lough on March llth, 1850, now preserved in the 

 Belfast Museum (Thompson) ; a third female procured in 

 Rathlin Island, in November, 1861, as recorded by the late 

 Robert Gage in his list of Rathlin Birds made in 1889 

 (Ussher). 



The fourth specimen, which proved to be an immature 

 maJe, was shot on Achill Island, co. Mayo, on December 

 12th, 1892, and is now in the collection of Mr. Edwin 

 Bayles, in Birmingham (J. R. Sheridan, ' Irish Naturalist,' 

 1893, p. 177). 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head and nape 

 of neck, bluish-grey ; neck, yellowish, except the front which 

 is white ; cheeks, light green and white ; under the chin is a 

 black patch ; upper region of the back, whitish ; wings, 

 black, except a large white patch on the coverts ; inner 

 secondaries, long and curving down over the primaries ; 

 lower region of the back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts, 

 black; tail, dark brown; upper breast, rich buff; lower 

 breast and abdomen, black ; flanks, patched with white. 



Adult male, post-nuptial or eclipse. Somewhat resem- 

 bles the female plumage, but the shades are darker, and 

 the throat is marked with traces of black ; there is very 

 little white on the wings. 



