NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 187 



placed on the tops of high trees, sometimes on sea-cliffs or rocks, and 

 occasionally on the ground ; they are large flat structures, formed of 

 sticks and lined with roots and dry grass, From three to five uniform 

 bluish- green eggs are laid in March or, in mild seasons, even as early as 

 January, Both parents assist in providing the young with food, which 

 consists of fish, frogs, reptiles, young water-fowl, mice, and voles, as 

 well as worms, molluscs, and insects. 



Perthshire, June. 

 Presented by W. R. Ogihie-Grant, Esq. 



No. 136. COMMON SCOTER. (CEdemia nigra.) 



Vast numbers visit our seas in winter, and the species is especially 

 abundant on the east coast of Great Britain, where it is often found in 

 numbers exceeding those of any other Duck. In spring the majority 

 of adult birds depart to the north of Europe, but some remain to breed 

 in the north of Scotland. The food consists chiefly of molluscs, which 

 are procured by diving. The nest, made of moss and grass with a lining 

 of down, is placed on an island in a freshwater loch or among the 

 heather in the vicinity. From six to nine yellowish-white eggs are laid 

 early in June. 



Caithness, June. 



Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby ty Captain S. G. Reid, 



No. 137. EIDER DUCK. (Somateria mollissima.) 



On the southern and western coasts of England and Wales this 

 species is only known as a winter visitor, but it breeds on the Fame 

 Islands, in Northumberland, and in suitable localities along the coasts 

 of Scotland. As a straggler it is occasionally met with on the Irish 

 coast. The food, obtained by diving, consists of shellfish and crustaceans 

 (which are often swallowed entire), as well as seaweed, etc. The nest, 

 usually situated among coarse herbage on low islands, is composed of 

 the stems of plants, grass, and fine seaweed, and contains from five to 

 eight green eggs. As incubation proceeds, a lining of down plucked 

 from the breast of the female is gradually added ; each nest contains 

 about three ounces of eider-down. As soon as the ducks begin to sit 

 the drakes leave them, and the latter may then be met with in small 

 parties off the coast. 



Island of Coll, Hebrides, May. 



Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby. 



