462 KING-EIDER. 
at Boulogne, and one was obtained near Venice on August 21st 1888. 
It is only a visitor to Iceland, the Fzeroes and the coast of Norway, 
and there is as yet no proof of its breeding in Spitsbergen, which, 
however, it frequents ; but it nests on Kolguev, Novaya Zemlya, and 
along the Arctic shores of Siberia as far as Bering Sea. Crossing 
eastward to America, it has been found in summer nearly as far 
north as man has penetrated, and its southern nesting-limit is in 
the Province of Quebec; while in winter it occurs on the coast of 
America as well as on the great fresh-water lakes, down to the latitude 
of New York, and it has been recorded from California. In West 
Greenland it nests near Godhavn and Upernavik, though by no 
means so plentiful there as the Common Eider. 
The nest is similar to that of our Eider, and the eggs, which are 
not known to exceed 6 in number, present the same varied shades 
of green ; but they are decidedly smaller, measuring about 2°6 by 
19 in. The food consists chiefly of crustaceans and molluscs. 
The adult male has the bill and the naked basal tubercle orange- 
red, the latter margined with black ; cheeks sea-green and white ; 
top of the head and nape bluish-grey ; neck buffish-white ; upper back 
whiter ; wing-coverts white, showing conspicuously on the otherwise 
sooty wing ; the elongated black inner secondaries falling in curves 
over the primaries; lower back and upper tail-coverts black ; tail- 
feathers dark brown ; under the chin a black chevron ; front of neck 
white ; upper breast rich buff; lower breast, belly, and under surface 
black, except a white patch on each flank ; legs and toes orange-red, 
webs darker. Length.21in.; wing 10’5in. The female has the beak 
greenish ; the entire plumage of two shades of brown, the darker 
colour occupying the centre of each feather of the back, while the 
margins are bright rufous; the brown on the head and.neck being 
rather lighter. She is smaller than the female of the Common 
Eider, and the central lines of feathers on the upper mandible run 
as far as a line with the nostrils, though more in the direction of 
the commisures of the bill, whereas in the female Common Eider 
these lines hardly reach half way. The plumage of the young drake 
is at first like that of the female, but afterwards the head and neck 
become yellowish-grey, spotted with black, and a great deal of the 
latter colour appears on the upper as well as the under parts, while 
the buff gorget becomes well defined, but no white appears on the 
wing-coverts till much later. The male does not attain full plumage 
until nearly four years old. 
