7494 Birds. 



build in them : these birds are not slow to avail themselves of this 

 accommodation, and the Laplanders thus reap a harvest of duck's 

 eggs. The hawk-owl, however, often dispossesses the duck, appro- 

 priates the cylinders, and pays a felon's penalty to the owner." — 

 Linueeus. These observations refer perhaps more especially to the 

 goldeneye ; but several species have the same or a similar taste in 

 nidification. 



Teal, Anas Crecca. 



Situation. Marshes in Scotland and the North of England, very 

 rarely in the South, particularly selecting sites in which rushes are 

 abundant. 



Materials. Large quantities of dried or decaying flags, sedges and 

 other water plants, lined with feathers. 



Eggs, 8 — 10. White, without any tinge of blue. 



Eider Duck, Anas mollissima. 



Situation. On the ground on the coast of Northumberland, the 

 Fern Islands, Coquet Islands, Western Islands of Scotland, &c. Mr. 

 Selby, who has repeatedly visited the Fern Islands for the purpose of 

 studying these birds, gives the following account of them : — " About 

 April they are seen assembling in small groups along the shores of 

 the mainland, from whence they cross over to the Islands in May, 

 soon after which the females begin to prepare their nests, and they 

 usually commence laying about the 20th of that month. The males, 

 as soon as this takes place and incubation commences, leave the 

 females, and again spread themselves along the shore, in companies 

 of four or five together." 



Materials. " The nest is composed of dried grasses mixed with a 

 quantity of the smaller Algae, and as incubation proceeds (and which 

 lasts for a month) a lining of down, plucked by the bird from her own 

 body, is added. This addition is made daily, and at last becomes so 

 considerable a mass as to envelope and entirely conceal the eggs." — 

 Mr. Selby. 



Eggs, 5. " The usual number of eggs is five, of a pale asparagus- 

 green colour, of an oblong shape, and not much less than those of a 

 goose. * * The young, as soon as hatched, are conducted to the 

 water, which in some instances must be effected by the parent con- 

 veying them in her bill, as I have often seen the nest in such situa- 

 tions as to preclude the possibility of their arriving at it in any other 

 way, and indeed the keeper of one of the lighthouses assured me that 

 he had seen the bird engaged in this interesting duty." — Mr. Selby. 



