AVES—EIDER DUCK. 667 
lays among stones, or plants, near the sea, but m a soft bed of down, which 
she plucks from her own breast. Sometimes two females will lay their 
eggs in the same nest, in which case they always agree remarkably well. 
As long as the female is sitting, the male continues on watch near the shore ; 
but as soon as the young are hatched, he leaves them. The mother, how- 
ever, remains with them a considerable time afterwards. It is curious to 
observe her manner of leading them out of the nest, almost as soon as they 
creep from the eggs. Going before them to the shore, they trip after her; 
and, when she comes to the water-side, she takes them on- her back, and 
swims a few yards with them, when she dives; and the young ones are left 
floating on the surface, obliged to take care of themselves. They are sel- 
dom seen afterwards on land. 
In Iceland, the eider ducks generally build their nests on small islands, 
not far from the shore; and sometimes even near the dwellings of the na- 
tives, who treat them with so much attention and kindness as to render 
them nearly tame. From these birds is produced the soft down, so well 
known by the name of the eider, or edder down, which is so light and expan- 
sive that a couple of handfuls will fill a down quilt, which, in cold countries, 
is used instead of a quilt or blanket. In the breeding season, the birds pluck 
it from their breasts to line their nests, and make a soft bed for the young 
ones. When the natives come to the nests, they carefully remove the fe- 
male and take away the superfluous down and eggs; after this, they replace 
the female ; she then begins to lay afresh, and covers her eggs with new 
down, which she also plucks from her body; when this is scarce, or she has 
no more left, the male comes to her assistance, and covers the eggs with his 
down, which is white, and easily distinguished from that of the female. 
When the young ones leave the nest, which is about an hour after they are 
hatched, it is once more plundered. The most eggs and best down are got 
during the first three weeks of their laying; and it has generally been ob- 
served, that they lay the greatest number of eggs in rainy weather. One 
female, during the time of laying, generally gives half a pound of down; 
which, however, is reduced one half after it is cleaned. The Iceland com- 
pany at Copenhagen generally export from Iceland about one thousand five 
hundred or two thousand pounds weight of this down, besides what is pri- 
vately purchased by foreigners. 
The Greenlanders kill these birds with darts; pursuing them in their lit- 
tle boats, watching their course by the air bubbles when they dive, and 
always striking them when they rise to the surface wearied. ‘The flesh is 
valued as food, and their skins are made into warm and comfortable under 
garments. 
