CLASS II. AVES: GILDER 8. NATATOIIES. 



321 



EIDEB DUCKS. 



hand, will swell out to such an extent as to fill and distend tlie foot-covering cf a large bed. 

 The best kind, termed live-down, is that which the Eider plucks to line the nest; the down taken 

 from the dead bird is greatly inferior, and it is rare that so valuable a bird is now killed for the 



purpose. To augment tlie quan- 

 tity of down from the same bird, 

 the eggs, which are very palat- 

 able, are taken and eaten, and the 

 female again strips herself to 

 cover the second and smaller 

 hatch. If the nest be a second 

 time plundered, as the female 

 can furnish no additional lining, 

 the male now lends his aid, and 

 strips the coveted down from his 

 breast, which is well known by 

 its paler color. The last laying, 

 of only two or three eggs, is al- 

 ways left to kindle their hopes 

 of progeny, for if this be taken 

 they will abandon the place ; but 

 thus indulged, they continue to 

 return the following year, ac- 

 companied by their young. The 

 most southern breeding place of 

 this species in Europe is the Fern 

 Isles, on the coast of Northum- 

 berland; and voyagers who have ventured to the dreary extremity of Arctic Europe, hear, in sum- 

 mer, from the caverns and rocks of the final cape, the deep moan of the complaining Eider. The 

 eggs are commonly five or six, but it is not unusual to find upward of ten in the same nest, which is 

 thus occupied peaceably by two females. In Norway and Iceland the Eider districts are considered 

 as valuable property, carefully preserved, and transmitted by inheritance. There are spots that con- 

 tain many hundreds of these nests, and the Icelanders are at the utmost pains to invite the Eiders, 

 each into his own estate; and when they perceive that they begin to frequent some of the islets which 

 maintain herds, they soon remove the cattle and dogs to the main-land, to procure the Eiders an 

 undisturbed retreat ; and to accommodate them, sometimes cut out holes in rows on the smooth 

 sloping banks, of wliich, to save themselves trouble, they willingly take possession and form their 

 nests. These people have even made many small islands for this purpose, by disjoining promon- 

 tories from the continent. It is in these retreats of peace and solitude that the Eiders love to 

 settle ; thouo-li they are not averse to nestle near habitations, if they experience no molestation. 

 *A person,' says Ilorrebow, 'as I myself have witnessed, may walk among these birds while they 

 are sitting and not scare them ; he may even take the eggs, and yet they Avill renew their laying 

 as often as three times.' According to the relation of Sir George Mackenzie, on the 8th of June, 

 at Yidoe, the Eider-Ducks, at all other times of the year perfectly wild, had now assembled in 

 great numbers to nestle. The boat by which they approached the shore passed through multi- 

 tudes of these beautiful birds, which scarcely gave themselves the trouble to go out of the way. 

 Between the landing place and the governor's house the ground was strewed with them, and it 

 required some caution to avoid treading on the nests. The drakes were walking about, uttering 

 a sound very like the cooing of doves, and were even more familiar than the common domestic 

 ducks. All round the house, on the garden wall, on the roofs, and even in the inside of the 

 houses, and in the chapel, were numbers of ducks sitting on their nests. Such as had not been 

 long on the nest generally left it on being approached ; but those that had more than one or two 

 eggs sat perfectly quiet, suffering us to touch them, and sometimes making a gentle use of their 

 bills to remove our hands. When a drake happens to be near his mate, he is extremely agitated 

 Vol. it.— 41 



