632 



on the Birds of Western Spitzbergen, also write : — " We found on this spot Brent Geese, Eider 

 Ducks (S. mollisima), and Glaucous Gulls, in immense numbers, and the ground was covered 

 with their nests." 



In the Faroe Islands Mr. Wolley says : — 



" The Eider Duck (S. mollissima) has of late years been provided with little houses to build 

 in on certain islets ; but the Great Gulls (L. marinus) still rob many of their eggs. The quantity 

 of down procured in the Faroe Islands is very inconsiderable." 



In Iceland, as is well known, it is very common ; and excellent field-notes on the species as 

 observed in this country are detailed below. Mr. Henry Milner tells us that he " found it 

 breeding in the Eyafiord, in the north of Iceland, also at the well-known preserve near Reikiavik, 

 in the south of the island." 



The distribution of the bird in Great Britain in thus given by Mr. A. G. More : — " Lat. 55°-59°. 

 ' Scottish ' type. Not in Ireland. The Farn Islands and the Bass Rock have long been known 

 as localities. Mr. H. D. Graham finds the Eider breeding on Colonsay and other islands in 

 subprovince 33 [see his map] ; but I do not know of any locality on the mainland of Argyleshire. 

 Mr. St. John, in his ' Tour in Sutherland,' mentions some islands at the entrance of the Kyle of 

 Tongue; and many different observers have met with the nest in the Outer Hebrides, Orkney 

 and Shetland." With regard to the Bass Rock, however, Professor Cunningham states that the 

 species has now disappeared from there. Messrs. Robert Gray and T. Anderson, in their recent 

 volume on the Birds of Ayrshire and Wigtounshire, say that " This large and conspicuous bird 

 is veiy seldom procured. It may occur much oftener than we suppose ; but being strictly of 

 marine habits, few persons have an opportunity of shooting it. So far as we can learn, it does 

 not breed anywhere in our district." Mr. H. J. Elwes says that " it is common, though not very 

 numerous, all over the Hebrides, from Islay to Lewis;" and Mr. Henry W. B. Milner says that 

 when he visited St. Kilda in 1847 he found the species "common, but not in such profusion as 

 in Iceland." In England itself the Eider gradually becomes rarer towards the south, and only 

 occurs as an occasional visitant. Mr. Stevenson has kindly sent us the following note : — 

 " Young males and females occur, occasionally seen near the Norfolk coast, mostly in severe 

 winters ; but it must be reckoned a rare visitant. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear recorded 

 an adult male as shot at Wells in June 1820, which had two others in company with it at 

 the time. Another is said to have been shot near Cromer [Hunt's ' List of Norfolk Birds ']. 

 Another adult male was shot in Lynn estuary in November 1868 — oddly enough a very mild 

 winter. And a nearly adult male was also shot at Hunstanton, near Lynn, in February 

 1871, during the late severe frost. These are all the adult males I have any record of." It is 

 occasionally shot on the southern coast ; and one instance is on record of its occurrence inland 

 in Berkshire. Only three instances of its capture in Sussex are mentioned by Mr. Knox ; and 

 in Devonshire Mr. J. Brooking Rowe records it as " scarce, but several specimens have been 

 obtained from time to time." Mr. Gatcombe says he knows of at least five instances of its 

 occurrence near Plymouth, but it may be considered very rare there. Only once has it been 

 known to have been killed in Cornwall, according to Mr. Rodd. 



In Holland it is only met with in winter ; and in Belgium, according to De Selys Longchamps, 

 it is " rare, and accidental on the coast during winter. One sees scarcely any but the young birds." 



