ANATIDA. 459 
Prt ee ine 
CN ae ae 
THE EIDER DUCK. 
SoMATERIA MOLLfssima (Linnzeus). 
The Eider Duck is only a winter-visitor in somewhat small 
numbers to Wales and the western and southern coasts of England, 
but along the east side it gradually becomes more abundant north- 
ward, and along the coast of Northumberland, especially on the 
Farne Islands, it has been known for centuries as a breeding bird. 
In Scotland it nests in suitable localities up to the Orkneys and 
Shetlands ; while in the Outer Hebrides it is decidedly increasing, 
and it breeds freely on Tiree, as well as on Colonsay, Jura and Islay, 
and in some localities in Argyll. On the Irish coast only about 
thirty-six examples have been obtained, chiefly in cold weather. 
This species is abundant in Iceland, the Feroes, and Norway, 
where it is protected by law; thence northward it can be traced to 
Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land. It also breeds on 
both islands of Novaya Zemlya, but it is rare at the mouth of the 
Yenesei; while eastward it is not known to extend beyond Cape 
Chelyuskin, and has not been found by recent travellers at the 
mouth of the Lena or in Kamchatka. Bering Sea is inhabited by a 
