SOMATERIA. 183 



Somateria mollissima. Eider-Duck. 



Anas mollissima Linnceus, Syst. Nat. 1758, p. 124 : 

 Sweden, 



Somateria mollissima (Linn.) ; li. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, p. 134 ; 

 Salvadori, Gat. Birds JB. M. xxvii. 1895, p. 425 ; Saunders, 

 Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 459. 



Mollissima, superlatire of moHia=8oft. 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Besident in the 

 northern parts of the British Islands, being especially common 

 in the Shetland and Orkney Islands ; also nesting in the Outer 

 and Inner Hebrides and, in suitable localities, along the east 

 coast o£ Great Britain down to Northumberland, Holy Isle, 

 and the Fame Islands, and on the west coast to Argyllshire. 

 In winter the numbers on the eastern shores o£ Great Britain 

 are greatly increased by migrants from north Europe, but 

 on the west and south coasts of England the species is not 

 common, and it is only an occasional wanderer to Ireland,' 

 where, however, it liested on an islet off co. Donegal in 

 1912. 



General Distribution. — The Eider-Duck inhabits the 

 western Palsearctic region and has been met with as far east 

 as the Taimyr Peninsula. It breeds in the Faeroe Islands, 

 Iceland, Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, and 

 Nov.iya Zemlja; also from Norway to the Kara sea, and 

 southward? to the North Frisian Islands. In winter it is 

 found on the coasts of Europe and sometimes visits parts of 

 the Mediterranean, occasionally wandering to the Azores. 

 It is sometimes found on inland waters Several races have 

 been recognised in the Palaearctic region, and in eastern 

 North America and Greenland it is represented by a very 

 closely allied form, S. m. borealis, and in western North 

 America and north-eastern Asia by the somewhat more 

 distinct form S. m. v-nignim. 



