76 LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



he was too lively to be secixred. Young unable to fly were seen as late as the middle 

 of October. Their food in autumn consists almost wholly of mollusks. On one occa- 

 sion Mr. Kumlien disturbed a large colony of them, and the Ducks all left their nests. 

 He sent his Eskimos to another island while he remained behind to see how the 

 birds would behave. As soon as the boat left, both males and females returned to 

 their nests. One male alighted by the side of a nest and settled down on the eggs 

 with a well-satisfied air, when suddenly a female appeared, and seemed to inform him 

 that he had made a mistake, and that it was not his nest ; he thereupon withdrew 

 with an awkward bow. The Ducks all seemed very noisy and communicative ; but 

 when Mr. Kumlien crept out into full view from his hiding-place, there was a general 

 look of disgust and astonishment among them. Many would not even leave their 

 nests, but hissed and squaked at him, after the manner of Geese. He mentions also 

 seeing large flocks of immature birds, both male and female, that do not breed. 



Dr. Bessels includes the Eider among the birds taken by the " Polaris " Expedition, 

 under Captain Hall, in Polaris Bay. Mr. Feilden, in the British Arctic Expedition 

 of 1875-1876, found it breeding in greali numbers in the neighborhood of Fort Foulke, 

 but decreasing in numbers as it passed northward. It became rare after passing 

 Cape Frazer, the meeting-place of the Polar and Baffin's Bay tides. He did not meet 

 with one north of Cape Union ; but Dr. Coppinger procured both this species and the 

 spectahUls at Thank-God Harbor (lat. 81° 38' I^.) in the month of July, 1876. 



Sir John Richardson regarded this as an exclusively marine species, and was not 

 aware that it is ever seen in fresh water. Its food is said to consist almost wholly of 

 the soft mollusca so common in northern waters. It is only partially migratory, the 

 older birds rarely moving farther south in winter than to permanent open water. 



Somateria Dresseri. 



THE AMERICAN EIDER. 



Anasmollissiwa, WiLS. Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 122, pi. 71. 



Fuligula {Somateria) mollissima, Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 407. 



Fuligula mollissima, AuD. Orn, Biog. III. 1835, 344 ; V. 1839, 611, pi. 246; Synop. 1839, 291 ; 



B. Am. VI. 1843, 349, pi. 405. 

 Somateria mollissima, Bonap. Comp. List, 1838, 57 (part). — Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 809 ; Cat. 



K Am. B. 1859, no. 606. — Coues, Key, 1872, 293 ; Check List, 1873, no. 513. 

 Somateria Dresseri, Sharpe, Ann. Mag. N. H. July, 1871, 51, figs. 1, 2. 

 Somateria mollissima, var. (?) Dresseri, CoUES, Birds N. W. 1874, 580. 

 Somateria mollissima Dresseri, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. voL 3, 1880, 205, 222 ; Nom. jN". Am. B. 



1881, no. 627 a. —Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 734. 



Hab. American coasts of the North Atlantic, from Maine, etc., to Labrador. 



Sp. Char. Adult male : Similar to S. mollissima, but the " cere " very much broader (.38 to 

 .50 of an inch wide anteriorly), much corrugated, the posterior extremity broad and rounded ; 

 green of the head rather more extended, usually following along underneath the black almost or 

 quite to the bill. " Bill pale grayish yellow, the unguis lighter, the soft tumid part pale flesh- 

 color; iris brown ; feet dingy Hght green, the webs dusky" (Audubon). Adult female : Scarcely 

 distinguishable from that of mollissima, but basal angles of the maxilla deeper and broader. 

 " Bill pale grayish green ; iris and feet as in the male" (Audubon). Downy young: Not distin- 

 guishable from that of mollissima. 



Total length, about 24.00 to 26.00 inches ; extent, 39.00 to 42.00 ; wing. 11.15-11.50 ; culmen, 

 1.95-2.40 ; from tip of bill to end of basal angh, 2.75-3.35 ; greatest width of angle, .38-50 ; 

 tarsus, 2.00-2.20; middle toe, 2.50-2.70 (six examples). 



After a close direct comparison of six males of S. mollissima with five of S. Dresseri, we have 

 been unable to verify the points of distinction given by Messrs. Sharpe & Dresser (" Birds of 



