426 HISTORY OF 



As tliey possess the faculties of flying and swimming, so they 

 are in general birds of passage, and, it is most probable, perform 

 their journeys across the ocean, as well on the water as in the 

 air. Those that migrate to this country, on the approach of 



Its plumage is a varied mixture of black and white ; the female however ia 

 of a reddish brown colour, marked with black and dusky streaks. They 

 generally build on small islands, not far from the shore, and the male con. 

 tinues on the watch near the shore while the female is sitting ; but he leaves 

 them when the brood is hatched. As soon as they are able to creep from 

 the shell, the mother entices them to the water side, and taking- them on her 

 back, she swims a short distance with them ; when she has got them a little 

 way from laud, she dives suddenly, leaving them floating on the surface of 

 the water to shift for themselves. After this they are seldom found on land. 



But that which renders this bird so highly valued, is the celebrated Eider 

 down, used for the beds and couches of the luxurious and the effeminate. 

 This is plucked from the breast by the birds, in order to line their nests ; 

 and during the time that the female is sitting, those who are concerned in 

 the traffic, remove her, and take away the down and superfluous eggs, and 

 then carefully replace her. This is done several times, and the down is 

 again produced by the birds, and she begins to lay afresh ; and when the 

 young ones leave the nest, it is completely plundered. One female will 

 give about half a pound of down, which, when properly cleaned, is reduced 

 to one half of that quantity. The down, when cleaned, sells at about I2s. per 

 pound. 



The example of the eider-duck, in plucking the down from her body in 

 order to keep her offspring warm, is not unmatched in the animal world. 

 The domestic rabbit is a familiar example, preparing for her delicate young 

 a nest of hay, warmly lined with down plucked from her own fur. It may 

 not be so generally known, that several moths, such as the gypsey and the 

 golden tail, are provided with a thick bunch of down on their tails for cov- 

 ering their eggs at the time of laying, and also with a pair of tweezers, like- 

 wise situated in the tail, for plucking off this down and spreading it over the 

 eggs. 



It has been remarked by Aristotle, that birds which do not perch build on 

 the ground : — " Partridges," he says, " and other birds which seldom fly, 

 nestle on the ground ; of these, also, the skylark, the woodcock, and the 

 quail never alight on a tree. But the converse of tlus will not hold ; for 

 many birds which perch nestle on the ground, of which the redbreast, the 

 buntings, and the pheasants, are familiar examples. A very remarkable 

 illustration, liowever, of the remark of Aristotle, occurs in the summer, 

 duck of America, which does not seem out of place to be mentioned here, 

 as one of the birds which line their nests with their own down. At variance 

 with the habits of all other ducks, this one perches on trees, for which its 

 strong sharp claws render it more adapted than its webbed feet. T^e 

 elegant form and rich colouring of the male (though the female wears a 

 uniform of dull brown) have excited the admiration of all who have seen it ; 

 and we think it not unlikely that the Indians took the hint of their plumed 

 head-dresses from its beautiful crest. With this crest and the skin of the 

 neck, the calumet, or pipe of peace, is. frei^uently ornamented. Linnaeus, 



