712 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — LAMELLIBOSTBES - ANSEBES. 



feathering of its base ; plumage entirely different, being nearly everywhere varied, chiefly in 

 bars, with black, chestnut-brown, and yellowish-brown, giving way on the under parts to 

 grayish-brown with dusky nebulation. Size less than that of the <J. This is the common 

 eider of Europe, semidomestioated in some places, so famous for yielding the prized down of 

 commerce, wliich the parent plucks from her breast to cover the eggs. It is also found in N. 

 Am., as on Cumberland Sound ; but the common American eider is of the following character. 



734. S. m. dres'seri. (To H. E. Dresser, of England. Pig. 493.) American Eider DucK. Like 

 the last ; pluuiage the same ; form of the bill different, exhibiting an approach to the structure 

 of that of S. spectahilis. General profile of culmen concave, the frontal processes being wider, 

 higher, more obtuse, and more divaricating than in S. mollissima proper (compare figs, and 

 foregoing description). The difference is very obvious on comparison of specimens, and may 

 be held of specific value if no intermediate specimens are forthcoming. Culmen 2.00 or more ; 

 from apex of frontal pirocesses to tip (if bill about 3.00; along gape 2.50. 9 differs as in the 

 case of j5'. moUissima proper. N. Am., northerly, especially on the Atlantic coast; also on 

 large inland waters ; not noted from the N. Pacific ; S. usually in winter to New England, more 

 rarely to the Middle States ; breeding from tlie Maine coast northward, abundantly in New- 

 foundland and Labrador, where it is one of the characteristic birds. Nest on the ground, of 

 mosses, lichens, hay, and sea weed, to which feathers are added ; eggs 6-10, usually fewer, 

 plain dull greenish-drab, about 3.00 X 2.00, laid iu June and July. 



735. S. v-nig'rum. ' (Quasi-Lat. v-nigrum, noting the black V-shaped mark on the throat). Pacific 

 Eider. Like the two preceding, but with a large black V-shaped mark on the throat, pointing 

 forward and forking behind, as in S. spectahiUs. While the plumage is otherwise as in the com- 

 mon eider, the shape of the bill and character of its feathering are appreciably different, furnish- 

 ing useful characters, especially in the case of the ? . The frontal processes are acute and parallel, 

 as in S. mollissima, but the gibbosity of the bill is greater than in S. dresseri ; while the feathers 

 upon its sides do not extend so far (scarcely or not reaching opposite the hind end of the nos- 

 trils), and have rounded instead of acute terurination ; their lower border is also more nearly 

 parallel with the edge of the commissure. The extension of the feathers on the chin equals or 

 even surpasses that on the side of tlie bill, rather the reverse being the case with S. mollissima 

 and dresseri. Pacific coast from the Arctic Ocean to California, common in suitable locaUties 

 on both coasts and islands of Behring's Sea, and the polar coasts of Siberia ; replacing the 

 common eider, and associated Math the king, spectacled, and Steller's eiders. 



736. S. (E.) specta'bllis. (Lat. spectahiUs, conspicuous, spectacular.) KiNG Eider. Characters 

 of bill and its feathering quite difl'eriug from those of other eiders, and moreover varying much, 

 not only in the two sexes, but in the ^ at different seasons. In the adult (J, in the breeding 

 season, the bill develops immense rounded or squarish latexal frontal processes, bulging liigh 

 out of line with the rest of the bill ; these processes are soft, and moreover depend for their 

 prominence upon the development of a mass of fatty substance upon which they are supported ; 

 they shrink and become more depressed in winter, when the general formation of the parts is 

 not very different -from that of other eiders. The frontal feathers extend in a definite line along 

 the elevated culmen to about opposite the hind end of the nostrils ; those of the side of the 

 bill, on the contrary, fall far short of the nostrils ; those of the chin reach about opposite 

 those of the culmen ; the whole feathered outline of the bill being thus very different from 

 that of any other eider. In the 9 , though all the parts concerned are less developed, the same 

 relative extension of feathers obtains, so that the bird is distinguished easily from the 9 of 

 any other eider ; the culminal and mental feathers both reaching about opposite the nostrils, 



' those on the side of the bill not extending nearly so far. Adult <J : Black ; the neck and 



fore part of the body, most of the wing-coverts and lining of wings, and a spot on each side <if 

 the rump, white ; the white of the breast tinged with creamy brown ; the curly tertials black 

 (white in other eiders). A black V-shaped mark on the chin, as in <S'. v-nigrum. Top of head 



