635 



" During the daytime the Eider, unless disturbed, spends fully as much of its time on land, 

 or rather on the cold naked rocks so common in the ' Skargard,' as in the water, and, as it would 

 appear, in a state of repose. What may be the case in the winter, I know not ; but in the summer 

 it would seem always to pass the night on terra firma ; for when boating by moonlight we 

 frequently started these birds from their roosting-places on the rocks, but never saw them on the 

 water. If this be really the case, it would look as if the Eider, unlike most other birds of the 

 Duck tribe, which obtain the greater part of their sustenance during the hours of darkness, feeds 

 only in the daytime. 



" Excepting from actual necessity, the Eider very rarely flies to any considerable distance 

 from water, its natural element. Even when proceeding from one bay to another, it will follow 

 the indentations, however sinuous, of the coast, rather than cross a headland. We are told, 

 indeed, that, as with several other oceanic birds, ' if it accidentally loses sight of the sea, its 

 powers of flight forsake it, and it will alight on the ground and look about in a state of bewilder- 

 ment, and at such times allow itself to be taken by the hand.' When thus out of its latitude, it 

 occasionally finds its way to very singular localities. Last autumn, when at Ellingo, in Scania, 

 distant some twenty miles from the sea, the proprietor, Count Carl Diiker, pointed out to me a 

 small pond near the mansion, where some years before an Eider Duck had been shot by one of 

 his people. 



" This bird feeds on crustaceans and marine insects, and, some great authorities will have it, 

 on the finny tribe as well. It may be so ; but though on very many occasions we have known 

 the Eider, when dead, to disgorge quantities of cockles, crabs, and some of these of considerable 

 size, we were never aware of any thing in the shape of a fish. I speak of it in the wild state ; 

 for when domesticated it will eat almost any thing. It obtains its food at the bottom, at times, 

 it is said, at a depth of twenty fathoms. To this I cannot testify; but certain it is that, even 

 when unmolested, it remains under water a very long time. 



" The weight of the male Eider, prior to pairing, and when in tolerable condition, averages 

 near six pounds, that of the female about the same, or it may be somewhat more. The largest 

 one ever killed did not weigh fully as much as seven pounds. 



" The female forms her nest of sea-weed, fresh grass, and other coarse materials, and often 

 in very bleak and exposed situations. Most commonly it is placed near the water, but at times 

 a long distance from thence, and high up, say a hundred feet or more, on some rocky islet. She 

 lines it with a quantity of the soft and elastic down from her own body, and at the end of April, 

 or beginning of May, lays from five to six eggs, of a pale green colour, the size of those of a 

 Goose. It happens occasionally, we are told, that two or three females deposit their eggs in the 

 same nest, and in company sit amicably upon them. To this point I cannot speak from actual 

 observation ; but having frequently seen more than one female with the same young brood gives 

 some countenance to the notion. In those parts of Scandinavia where this bird is protected, it 

 is said to be so tame as to nest not only in the boat-houses, but in the very huts of the fishermen, 

 and, whilst sitting, to allow of being handled by them. Such domesticity, however, Avas not 

 found in our 'Skargard,' where it was subject to constant persecution. In most instances, indeed, 

 the old bird took wing when one was at all near the nest, leaving the eggs or the chicks, as the 

 case might be, to their fate. 



