Duck-shooting 163 



dusky ; tips of greater coverts and secondaries, white, forming 

 two narrow bars across the wing; speculum, purplish brown; 

 upper parts of breast, rusty, spotted with black ; bill, slate ; legs 

 and feet, brownish ; iris, brown. 



Measurements — Length, 17.50 inches ; wing, 8 inches; tarsus, 1. 1 5 

 inches; culmen, 1.40 inches. 



Young male— Similar to the female, but the speculum is a dull gray- 

 ish brown without any gloss ; the tertials slightly curved, with 

 no white. 



Eggs — Six to ten in number, pale grayish green, and measure 2.30 

 by 1.60 inches. 



Habitat — Found in summer in North America, in Greenland, Cum- 

 berland, and from Point Barrow, Alaska, along the coast to the 

 Alaskan peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, the Shumagins, and 

 islands in Bering Sea. In winter, the islands in Bering Sea, 

 the Aleutians south to the Kenai peninsula, and two taken in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Probably breeds in most of its sum- 

 mer range, as it does abundantly in Siberia. 



The chief claim this handsome bird has to a 

 residence in North America is its presence on 

 the Alaskan coast. It is common on the shore 

 and islands of Bering Sea, and is occasionally 

 numerous on the Aleutian Islands and near Una- 

 laska. Closely related to the eiders, the Steller's 

 duck is found in the Arctic regions associating 

 with the king eider. Farther south it is some- 

 times seen among flocks of Pacific eiders. They 

 frequent the islands offshore, feeding in the tide- 

 rips and at the mouths of rivers on various Crus- 

 tacea and mollusks found in these waters. In 

 May, as soon as the ice leaves the bays, the flocks 

 separate into pairs. Later in the summer they 

 are seen in large flocks, the young birds and 



