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on his expedition in 1858; and Professor Sundevall saw several young males and females in 

 Bellsund in 1837, but no males. Professor Malmgren himself obtained one, shot out of a small 

 flock early in July at Safe Haven. Another little flock was observed by him in August on the 

 Horn-Sound Islands; but in the south-east harbour of Bear Island, on the 18-19th June, he 

 saw a very large flock, consisting of hundreds of ducks and young drakes, with only one or two 

 old drakes amongst them all. In the Baltic it is of very rare occurrence. Borggreve says that 

 Boeck obtained a female on the coast of Pomerania in the winter ; and, according to Professor 

 Miinter an adult male in full plumage was shot on the island of Riigen on the 28th March, 

 1853, by Mr. Bohnsack. Kjserbolling only records one instance of its occurrence in Denmark, 

 viz. that of a young male, now in Mr. Carstensen's collection, obtained at Copenhagen on the 

 19th April, 1849. Mr. J. C. H. Fischer, of Copenhagen, however, informs me that two were 

 obtained in the winter of 1864-65 — one, a young male in change, received about the middle of 

 February from Kallundborg by Mr. Benzon, and an old female purchased in the flesh by Mr. 

 Scheel on the 30th of March, the latter being now in Mr. Fischer's collection. It does not 

 appear to have been obtained on the coasts of Holland or Belgium ; but Messrs. Degland and 

 Gerbe say that it appears accidentally on the coasts of France, and that one was killed at 

 Boulogne. 



In Asia, as in Europe, it is found only in high latitudes, where it does not appear to be very 

 rare. Von Middendorff observed it on passage on the Boganida on the 6th June in 70° N. lat. 

 On the 16th the first pairs were seen on the Taimyr in 73f° N. lat. ; and soon after, large flocks 

 appeared. On the 25th June he found a nest with fresh eggs, and on the 24th June (July ?) he 

 met with the young in down. Early in August many females were seen swimming down the 

 river with their young, evidently making for the sea. 



On the American continent the King Eider is tolerably common in the northern portions of 

 the British possessions, but appears to be more numerous on the eastern than on the western side 

 of the continent. In Alaska it is said to be rare. Mr. Dall found one dead on the beach near 

 the rapids of the Yukon river ; and he observed it in winter at Unalashka. M'Farlane found it 

 breeding at Franklin Bay, in the Arctic ocean ; and Captain H. W. Feilden, who met with it on 

 the late Arctic expedition, writes to me : — " It extends its northern range beyond that of 

 Somateria mollissima. In July a few pairs visited the coasts we travelled over between the 

 82° and 83° N. lat. in Grinnell Land ; and I obtained two or three nests in the vicinity of our 

 winter quarters, in 82° 27' N. lat." 



It is found in Labrador and on the coasts of Canada and New Brunswick. I was never 

 fortunate enough to see it when shooting on the shores of the Bay of Fundy ; but Mr. G. A. 

 Boardman informs me that it has been seen off the coasts of Maine all the summer, but is 

 usually met with as a rare winter straggler. 



In the United States it is, Dr. Coues says, found chiefly on the coast, and ranges during 

 severe winters south to New Jersey, occurring in the interior to Lake Erie. Dr. Brewer informs 

 me that " it usually occurs so far out at sea that it is only rarely brought to market. Numbers 

 are found about Nantucket Bay throughout the winter up to April. It has been taken in Lake 

 Erie, near Buffalo; and specimens from Niagara and Illinois are in the Smithsonian Museum." 



In habits the present species is said to differ but little, if at all, from the common Eider, 



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