73 



Distinctions. General dark colorations unrelieved by much pattern of the Scot^s; 

 the bright coloration in broad masses of male Eiders; and fmely and evenly barred tones of 

 browns of females; size, build, swellings, and protuberances of bills of both sexes of most 

 species are the most obvious characteristics. 



Field Marks. General coloration and bills. 



Nesting. On ground near water, sometimes under shelter of overhanging rocks or 

 bushes; nest lined with down from the parent's body. The eiderdown of commerce is 

 obtained from the nests of the Eiders. 



Distribution. Distributed over the whole of Canada, nesting in the north; most 

 common on the coasts and the large bodies of water during migration. 



These are "Sea Ducks" in the strict sense of the term, built for buffet- 

 ing heavy weather and rarely coming in to the shallow pools or marshes. 

 They feed on shell fish and marine life obtained by diving. 



Economic Status. Their food habits have little economic interest 

 to man, but in certain localities, as in Labrador, they furnish in themselves 

 and their eggs, the bulk of the fresh animal food available. As the down is 

 a valuable object of commerce the Eiders are of distinct and easily recog- 

 nized value. They are being rapidly reduced in numbers/ (see discussion 

 of American Eider) and drastic steps should be taken for their conserva- 

 tion. 



160. Eider Duck. pr. — l'btdek du nobd. Somateria mollissima. L, 23. Male: 

 black below, cutting sharply against the white breast which is deUcately suffused with 

 vinaceous pink; white above; head white with mle-green suffusion from cheeks to nape; 

 broad black bar through eye to hind head. Female : evenly coloured in a fine pattern of 

 various browns, blacks, and Ught ochres arranged in broken bars around the body. Bill 

 processes extending up either side of forehead in long fleshy tongues. 



Distinctions. Male unmistakable; female may be separated from that of King Eider 

 by feathering of crown not extending as far forward as rear end of the nostril. This species 

 is much Uke the American Eider from which it can only be separated by size and shape of 

 the bill processes on the forehead — in the Eider Duck they terminate acutely and are not 

 roimded at the tips — and distance from point of feathering on side of bill to tip of process 

 is less than in the Amierican Eider. 



Field Marks. Size and general coloration. 



Nesting. On ground^est built entirely of down. 



Distrihviion. Eider Duck inhabits northern parts of Europe and eastern America. 

 The Northern Eider is the more northern of our two similar Eiders (see next species). A 

 strictly Atlantic bird breeding in the eastern Canadian Arctic and in Greenland. 



SUBSPECIES. The Eider Duck is represented in America by a subspecies, the 

 Northern Eider S. m. borealis. The European Eider, the type race, has never been recorded 

 in America. 



161. American Eider, pr. — l'eideb D'AMfiRiQTTE. motak. Somateria dresseri. 

 L, 23. Almost exactly similar to the preceding species. 



Distinctions. Female may be mistaken for that of King Eider, but can be separated 

 from it by the feathering of crown not extending as far forward as rear of nostril. It may 

 not be specifically distinct from preceding species and either sex can only be separated 

 from it by rounded ends of biU process on forehead and the fact that the distance from 

 point of feathering on side of bill to tip of processes is greater. 



Field Marks. Size and general coloration; cannot be distinguished from Northern 

 Eider in life. 



Nesting. On ground, sometimes under overhanging rocks or bushes, nest built of down 

 plucked from the parent's breast. 



Distribution. A bird of our eastern coasts, nesting on the north shore of the gulf of 

 St. Lawrence. 



In Scandinavia and Iceland the Eiders are semi-domesticated and the 

 down derived from their nests is an important source of revenue. Though 

 on the Labrador and gulf of St. Lawrence coasts there are immense flocks 

 of these birds no attempt has been made to turn them to account excent 



