EIDER DUCK. S49 



became quite satisfied of the fact while at Labrador, where, from the 

 number which we procured in a state of change, and the vast quantities 

 every now and then in sight, our opportunities of observing these birds 

 in a perfectly natural state were ample. 



Some authors have said that the males keep watch near the females ; 

 •but, although this may be the case in countries such as Greenland and 

 Iceland, where the Eiders have been trained into a state of semi-domesti- 

 cation, it certainly was not so in Labrador. Not a single male did we 

 there see near the females after incubation had commenced, unless in the 

 case mentioned above, when the latter had been deprived of their eggs. 

 The males invariably kept aloof and in large flocks, sometimes of a hun- 

 dred or more individuals, remaining out at sea over large banks with 

 from seven to ten fathoms of water, and retiring at night to insular rocks. 

 It seemed very wonderful that in the long lines in which we saw them 

 travelling, we did not on any occasion discover among them a young 

 bird, or one not in its mature plumage. The young males, if they breed 

 before they acquire their full colouring, must either be by themselves at 

 this period, or with the barren females, which, as I have already said, 

 separate from those that are breeding. I am inclined to believe that 

 the old males commence their southward migration before the females 

 or the young, as none were to be seen for about a fortnight before the 

 latter started. In winter, when these Ducks are found on the Atlantic 

 shores of the United States, the males and females are intermingled ; and 

 at the approach of spring the mated pairs travel in great flocks, though 

 disposed in lines, when you can distinctly see individuals of both sexes 

 alternating. 



The flight of the Eider is firm, strong, and generally steady. They 

 propel themselves by constant beats of the wings, undulating their lines 

 according to the inequality of surface produced by the waves, over which 

 they pass at the height of a few yards, and rarely more than a mile from 

 the shores. Few fly across the Gulf of St Lawrence, as they prefer fol- 

 lowing the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, to the eastern en- 

 trance of the straits of Belle Isle, beyond which many proceed farther 

 north, while others ascend that channel and settle for the season along 

 the shores of Labrador, as far up as Partridge Bay, and still farther up 

 the St Lawrence. Whilst on our waters, or at their breeding grounds, 

 the Eiders are not unfrequently seen flying mucli higher than when 

 travelling, but in that case thev seem to be acting with the intention of 



