338 NATATORES. SOMATERIA. EIpER. 
explored. They are strictly confined to the ocean, feeding 
upon Crustacea, molluscous shell-fish, &c., which they ob- 
tain by diving. Their flight is strong and rapid, but seldom 
at any great elevation. 
COMMON EIDER. 
SoOMATERIA MoLLissima, Leach. 
PLATE LXX. ann LXX*. 
Romateris mollissima, Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 119. sp. 176.—Shaw’s Zool. 12. 
224. pl. 60. 
Anas mollissima, Linn. 1. 178. 15.—Gmel. Syst. 1. 514.—Lath. Ind. Orn. 
2. 845. sp. 35.—Wils. Amer. Ornith. 8. 122. pl. 91. f. 2. and 3. 
Anas St Cuthberti, Raii Syn. 141. A. 3.— Will. 278. t. 77. 
Anser lanuginosus, Briss. Orn. 6. 294. 13. t. 29. 30. 
Oie 4 Duvet, ou Eider, Buff: Ois. 9. 103. t. 6.—IJd. Pl. Enl. 289. and 209. 
male ét femelle. 
Canard Eider, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. 2. 848. 
Die Eidergans, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. 926. 
Eiterente, Meyer, Tasschenb. Deut. 2. 507. 
Great Black and White Duck, Edward’s Glean. t. 98. m. and f. 
Eider or Cuthbert Duck, Penn. Br. Zool. 2. 581. No. 271.—Arct. Zool. 2. 
No. 480. Will. (Angl.) 362. 76.—Lath. Syn. 6. Heft. 29.—Jd. Sup. 274. 
—Lewin’s Br. Birds, 7. pl. 244.— Mont. Ornith. Dict. and Sup.—Bewick’s 
Br. Birds, ed. 1826. 2. p. t. 305.— Wiis. Amer. Ornith. 8. 122. pl. 91. f. 2. 
male, f. 3. female.—Shaw’s Zool.. 12. 224. pl. 60. male.—Flem. Br. Anim. 
1. 119. sp. 176. 
PRoOvINcIAL—Eider, Cuthbert Duck, Culbert Duck, Dunter Goose. 
In Britain the range of this valuable species extends to 
about the 55th degree of north latitude, to the southward of 
which it becomes of very rare occurrence. Its limits, how- 
ever, towards the pole are scarcely ascertained, as it has been 
found, I believe, in the highest latitudes yet penetrated by 
navigators. In Iceland, Spitzbergen, and other arctic re- 
gions of Europe, it is very abundant ; and in those cold coun- 
tries is highly beneficial to the inhabitants, on account of its 
feathers, elastic down, eggs, &c. It is equally common in 
parallel latitudes of the North American continent, and, in 
fact, may be considered a general inhabitant of the Frigid 
