Eider-Ducks 



197 



fischeri), although similar in general plumage to the other Eider-Ducks, differs 

 markedly in the shape of the bill, this being shorter than the head and covered 

 at base with a dense mat of soft velvety feathers, and further in the "cushion" of 

 stiffened feathers which surround the eyes. It is a rather rare and little known 

 species confined to the coast of Alaska from Norton Sound to Point Barrow. The 

 last member of the group, although perhaps not a true Eider, is Steller's Duck 

 (Polysticta stelleri), a bird of 

 the high Arctic and sub-Arctic 

 coasts of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. 



Although it would be of 

 interest to recount the life his- 

 tories of all these birds, lack of 

 space necessitates confining our 

 attention mainly to a single spe- 

 cies, and as perhaps the best 

 known this may be the Euro- 

 pean Eider. Although the 

 birds themselves may not be 



FlG. 66. American Eider-Duck, Somateria dresseri. 



very generally known, since 

 much of their life is spent at 

 sea, the uses to which the soft 

 down has long been put 

 makes them widely familiar. 



This bird makes its summer home well within the Arctic Circle on the islands 

 and rocky coasts of Spitzbergen, Iceland, Nova Zembla, and the islands north 

 of Siberia. Here they resort in thousands and in many places are carefully 

 protected and induced to nest by the inhabitants, who profit largely by gathering 

 the down. The following graphic account is from the pen of Mr. C. W. Shepard, 

 who describes the conditions he found on the northern coast of Iceland: "The 

 islands of Viga and CEdey are their headquarters in the northwest of Iceland. 

 In these they live in undisturbed tranquillity. They have become almost domes- 

 ticated, and are found in vast multitudes, as the young remain and breed at the 

 place of their birth. As the island was approached we could see flocks upon 

 flocks of the sacred birds, and could hear their cooing at a great distance. We 

 landed on a rocky, wave-worn shore. It was the most wonderful ornithological 

 sight conceivable. The Ducks and their nests were everywhere. Great brown 

 Ducks sat upon their nests in masses, and at every step started from under our 

 feet. It was with difficulty that we avoided treading on some of the nests. On 

 the coast of the opposite shore was a wall built of large stones, just above the 

 high-water level, about three feet in height, and of considerable thickness. At 

 the bottom, on both sides of it, alternate stones had been left out, so as to form 

 a series of square compartments for the Ducks to nest in. Almost every compart- 

 ment was occupied, and as we walked along the shore, a long line of Ducks flew 

 out, one after the other. The surface of the water also was perfectly white with 



