80 



LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



laid eggs lying on a bed of down so exquisitely soft and warm that, in that almost 

 painfully barren and frigid region, the nest seemed to be the ideal of comfort, and 

 almost of beauty. When the bird leaves her nest without being suddenly disturbed, 

 the eggs are generally covered with down, and always so when the full complement 

 has been laid. The largest number found in a nest was six ; and this happened in so 

 many instances that Di". Bryant regarded six as the normal number. In color the 

 eggs present two varieties — one of a pale greenish-olive or oil-green color, and the 

 other brownish or true olive. The first-mentioned variety is frequently marked with 

 large spots, or splashes, of the same color, of much greater intensity ; the other kind 

 is invariably without spots. After the eggs have been incubated for some time 

 they become more or less scratched by the claws of the parent while sitting on them 

 or rolling them over. In shape the eggs present but little variety, being always 

 nearly oval. In size the difference is less than is the case in the majority of birds. 

 The largest egg measured 3.27 by 2.16 inches ; the most elongated, 2.95 by 1.85; and 

 the most broadly oval, 2.79 by 2.08. > 



Somateria V-nigrum. 



THE PACIFIC EIDER. 



Somateria V-nigra, Gray, P. Z. S. 1855, 212, pi. 107. — Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 810; Cat. N. 

 Am. B. 1859, no. 607. — Elliot, Illustr. Am. B. pi. 48. — Coues, Key, 1872, 293; Check 

 List, 1873, no. 514 ; 2a ed. 1882, no. 735 ; B. N. W. 1874, 581. — Ridgw. Nom. N. Am. B. 

 1881, no. 628. 



Hab. American coasts of the North Pacific ; Yukon Valley, Mackenzie River, and Slave Lake 

 districts ; Eastern Siberia. 



Sp. Char. Similar to S. mollissima, bnt decidedly larger, the bill broader, and deeper through 

 the base, the angles of the maxilla proportionally shorter and much more acute ; tymU with a 



^^S^fr!- 



S. V-nigrum. 



large V-shaped black mark on the throat, as in S. spectabilis. Adult male: Top of the head 

 velvety black, with a slight violet gloss, divided mjsially, from the middle of the crown back, by 

 a narrow stripe of greenish white ; the black extending forward in a rather wide .'stripe along the 

 upper edge of the lores, underneath the basal angle of the maxilla, but not extending anteriorly as 

 far as the nostril ; greater wing-coverts, secondaries, middle line of the rump, upper tail-coverts. 



