632 SOMATERIA 



places protected during the breeding season, is then very tame 

 and confiding. The nest is a mere depression on the soil under 

 a jumper bush or a stone, lined with twigs, bits of seaweed, and 

 down, arid it readily nests in places especially prepared for it, 

 and its eggs and down are valuable commodities in Iceland 

 and Norway. The eggs, 5 to 7, sometimes 8, in number, are 

 greenish grey, and measure about 3*0 by 2'0. 



874. PACIFIC EIDER. 

 SOMATERIA V. NIGRUM. 



Somateria v. nigrum, G. R. Gray, P.Z.S. 1855, p. 212, pl.'cvii. ; Elliot, 

 Illnstr. Am. B. pi. 48 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1192 ; Salvador!, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus. xxvii. p. 430 ; Ridgway, p. 110. 



(J ad. (N.W. America). Differs from S. uiollissima in having a 

 V-shaped black mark on the throat like S. spectalilis and the bill bright 

 orange or orange-red with the tip paler. Cu linen 2'0, wing 12'20, tail 5'5, 

 tarsus 2'15 inch. The female closely resembles that of S. mollissima but 

 is as a rule larger. 



Nab. North-west America, east to the Great Slave Lake ; 

 North-east Asia ; the coasts of the Arctic Ocean ; Kamchatka 

 and the Commander Islands. 



In habits it is said not to differ from S. mollissima, and its 

 eggs also resemble those of that species, being according 

 to Mr. Nelson light olive-drab, oval in form, and measure from 

 2-87 by 2-03 to 312 by 2-04. Unlike our European Eider, how- 

 ever, the Pacific Eider does not breed in colonies, but in single 

 pairs, nesting in salt marshes close to a pond or a tide-creek, 

 and not often in close proximity to the sea-shore, and the eggs 

 are deposited in June. 



875. KING EIDER. 

 SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS. 



Somateria spectabilis (Linn.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 195 (1766) ; (Naum.), xii. 

 p. 285, Taf. 322, 323 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 417, pi. cxv. figs. 1, 2 ; 

 Gould, B. of E, v. pi. 375 ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. v. pi. 27 ; (Audub.) r 

 B. Am. vi. p. 347, pi. 404 ; Dresser, vi. p. 643, pi. 446 ; Salvadori, 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxvii. p. 432 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1195 ; 

 Saunders, p. 461 ; Lilford, vii. p. 125, pi. 53 ; Ridgway, p. 110. 



Canard d ttte grise, French. ; Prachtente, German ; Pragt- 

 edder, Dan. ; Erkonge, Norweg. ; Prcikt-ejder, Swed. ; Pukska- 

 haaJika, Finn. ; Pistrak, Russ. 



