﻿2l8 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  females 
  were 
  obtained 
  in 
  the 
  preceding 
  15 
  years. 
  Mr 
  Dutcher 
  says 
  in 
  the 
  

   Auk, 
  volume 
  10, 
  oage 
  270, 
  that 
  several 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  were 
  shipped 
  

   to 
  England 
  and 
  Germany 
  between 
  1843 
  ^^^ 
  1S50; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Auk, 
  volume 
  

   II, 
  page 
  176, 
  that 
  30 
  specimens 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  North 
  American 
  collections 
  

   Of 
  these 
  7 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  J" 
  in 
  the 
  

   collection 
  of 
  the 
  Long 
  Historical 
  Society, 
  J^ 
  in 
  the 
  Brooklyn 
  Institute 
  of 
  

   Arts 
  and 
  Sciences, 
  d" 
  in 
  the 
  Vassar 
  College 
  Museum, 
  c? 
  and 
  9 
  ^^ 
  the 
  State 
  

   Museum 
  at 
  Albany. 
  

  

  We 
  find 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  at 
  Laprairie, 
  

   Canada, 
  in 
  1862 
  [see 
  Can. 
  Nat. 
  & 
  Geol. 
  8:426], 
  and 
  at 
  Elmira, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  Decem- 
  

   ber 
  12, 
  1878 
  [see 
  Gregg, 
  Am. 
  Nat. 
  13:128]; 
  it 
  is 
  likely, 
  however, 
  that 
  these 
  

   reports 
  were 
  made 
  on 
  insufficient 
  evidence, 
  as 
  no 
  bona 
  fide 
  specimens 
  are 
  

   known 
  from 
  the 
  interior. 
  The 
  Labrador 
  duck 
  was 
  preeminentl}^ 
  a 
  mari- 
  

   time 
  species 
  frequenting 
  the 
  bars 
  and 
  sand 
  shoals 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  and 
  feed- 
  

   ing 
  almost 
  entirely 
  on 
  mollusks 
  and 
  other 
  shellfish. 
  Gunners 
  for 
  this 
  reason 
  

   often 
  called 
  it 
  the 
  Sand-shoal 
  duck. 
  Its 
  breeding 
  grounds 
  are 
  supposed 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Labrador 
  and 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  Baffin's 
  bay, 
  but 
  as 
  

   far 
  as 
  we 
  know 
  no 
  specimens 
  of 
  eggs 
  or 
  ducklings 
  occur 
  in 
  museums. 
  

  

  Without 
  doubt 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  now 
  extinct, 
  the 
  last 
  specimens 
  according 
  

   to 
  Dutcher 
  [Auk, 
  11 
  : 
  4-12] 
  having 
  been 
  taken 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  of 
  Grand 
  Manan 
  

   in 
  187 
  1 
  and 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  in 
  1875. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  its 
  

   extermination 
  will 
  remain 
  a 
  mystery; 
  but 
  its 
  restricted 
  range, 
  the 
  com- 
  

   parative 
  ease 
  of 
  taking 
  it, 
  and 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  a 
  calamity 
  to 
  its 
  breeding 
  

   grounds, 
  may 
  be 
  regarded 
  in 
  this 
  connection. 
  

  

  Somateria 
  dresseri 
  Sharpe 
  

   American 
  Eider 
  

  

  Plate 
  19 
  

  

  Somateria 
  dresseri 
  Sharpe. 
  Ann. 
  Mag. 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  July 
  187 
  1. 
  p. 
  51 
  

   F 
  u 
  li 
  g 
  u 
  1 
  a 
  m 
  o 
  1 
  1 
  i 
  s 
  s 
  i 
  m 
  a 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  332, 
  fig. 
  250 
  

   Somateria 
  dresseri 
  A. 
  O. 
  U 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  160 
  

  

  somate'ria, 
  Gr. 
  a-ia/xa, 
  o-w/xaTos-, 
  body, 
  and 
  epiov, 
  down; 
  dres'seri, 
  of 
  H. 
  E. 
  

  

  Dresser 
  

  

  Description. 
  Adidt 
  male: 
  Feathered 
  angle 
  on 
  the 
  forehead 
  not 
  

   extendino- 
  forward 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  nostrils, 
  feathers 
  on 
  sides 
  of 
  bill 
  extending 
  as 
  

  

  