346 EIDER DUCK. 



placed on the sheltered shelvings of rocks a few feet above high-water 

 mark, but none at any considerable elevation, at least none of my party, 

 including the sailors, found any in such a position. The nest, which is 

 sunk as much as possible into the ground, is formed of sea-weeds, mosses, 

 and dried twigs, so matted and interlaced as to give an appearance of neat- 

 ness to the central cavity, which rarely exceeds seven inches in diameter. In 

 the beginning of June the eggs are deposited, the male attending upon 

 the female the whole time. The eggs, which are regularly placed on the 

 moss and weeds of the nest, without any down, are generally from five to 

 seven, three inches in length, two inches and one eighth in breadth, be- 

 ing thus much larger than those of the domestic Duck, of a regular oval 

 form, smooth-shelled, and of a uniform pale olive green. I may here 

 mention, by the way, that they afford delicious eating. I have not been 

 able to ascertain the precise period of incubation. If the female is not 

 disturbed, or her eggs removed or destroyed, she lays only one set in the 

 season, and as soon as she begins to sit the male leaves her. When the 

 full complement of eggs has been laid, she begins to pluck some down 

 from the lower parts of her body ; this operation is daily continued for 

 some time, until the roots of the feathers, as far forward as she can reach, 

 are quite bare, and as clean as a wood from which the undergrowth has 

 been cleared away. This down she disposes beneath and around the 

 eggs. When she leaves the nest to go in search of food, she places it 

 over the eggs, and in this manner, it may be presumed to keep up their 

 warmth, although it does not always ensure their safety, for the Black- 

 backed Gull is apt to remove the covering, and suck or otherwise destroy 

 the eggs. 



No sooner are the young hatched than they are led to the water, even 

 when it is a mile distant, and the travelling difficult, both for the parent 

 bird and her brood ; but when it happens that the nest has been placed 

 among rocks over the water, the Eider, like the Wood Duck, carries the 

 young in her bill to their favourite element. I felt very anxious to find 

 a nest placed over a soft bed of moss or other plants, to see, whether, like 

 the Wood Duck on such occasions, the Eider would suffer her young ones 

 to fall from the nest ; but unfortunately I had no opportunity of observ- 

 ing a case of this kind. The care which the mother takes of her young 

 for two or three weeks, cannot be exceeded. She leads them gently in a 

 close flock in shallow waters, where, by diving, they procure food, and at 

 times, when the young are fatigued, and at some distance from the shore, 



