880 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



middling-sized bird could be carried so far by tbe sea,* and landed 

 in so good condition. On this island we found many Eider Ducks 

 nesting ; we shot a few before we discovered they were so engaged, 

 but the discovery did not deter the Norwegian sailors from bagging 

 all they could for the salted-bird casks, the contents of which were 

 to come in for their winter use at home, besides taking all the 

 eggs and down they could find, and which amounted to a good 

 lot. Intermixed with a sample of clown I took hence there is a 

 small amount of vegetable matter, chiefly lichen, and a few of the 

 outside layer of barred feathers (as opposed to down). When not 

 disturbed too suddenly the old ducks, before leaving their nests, 

 cover up the eggs with down — I suppose not only to help to 

 " keep the cold out," but more especially to hide them from the 

 ever-watchful egg-stealing members of the bird community. I do 

 not know whether all kinds of ducks do the same, but the common 

 Wild Duck, Anas bosclias, certainly does so. This habit of the 

 Eider is mentioned by Nordenskidld (' Voyage of the Vega,' vol. i., 

 p. 124), but the other habit mentioned by him {loc. cit.) of their 

 squirting over the eggs " a very stinking fiuid, whose disgusting 

 smell adheres to eggs and down," was not observed by us. It was 

 a very pretty sight, on this island, to see a pair of Arctic Terns 

 attacking, in the most plucky way, a Richardson's Skua, and 

 driving him away from their nest. In this they succeeded so well 

 that they brought him well up within range of me, and the next 

 moment he was " grassed," with the tip (i. e. carpus) of one wing 

 broken, but otherwise none the worse. Here was a good oppor- 

 tunity for bringing home a specimen for the Zoological Society, 

 so I bound up with some string, not only his injured wing, but 

 the other one as well, so as to preclude all bating, and then 

 tethered him to a stone with another string fastened to his legs, 

 until I was ready to take him to the boat. I may as well here 

 finish this bird's history. I got him safely on board on our 

 return to the ' Pallas,' and tethered him securely to a ring-bolt in 

 the waist of the ship, in a nice retired spot between the foremast 

 and a meat-safe, so that there might be no excuse for his going 

 overboard when a gangway was opened, after the example of the 

 Fulmars. On going to see after him the following morning, 

 I found the piece of string neatly coiled down, with one end still 



* A distance of about 5U0 miles, according to tbe point of tbe coast 

 wbonce it came. 



