DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



71 



Subgenus ERIONETTA Coufs. 



SOriATERIA SPECTABILIS (Linn. 



King Eider Duck. 



Special cJii I rwtem. Mali' : Topaiid liack of the 

 head and nape, pale bluish gi'ii.V ; a black V on 

 the upper throat; feathers l)orderinf;- tlie upper 

 mandible and a spot below the eye, lijaek; sides 

 of head below the eye, whitish, more or less 

 tiiifi'ed with green; throat, white; breast and 

 upper liack, pale buff; rest of under parts, blaek ; 

 middle and ffreater wing eoverts, white; rest ot 

 wings, tail and lower baek, black; n])per back, 

 white; axillars, white. 



Length, 24; wing, 11.2.5; tarsus, l.!)0; l)ill, 

 1.80. 



Special cliiirai-ters. Female : Eesemliles in gen- 

 eral coloration the Northern and American Eiders 

 but may always be known by the peculiar shape 

 of the upper mandible. 



Length, 21 to 24; wing, 10..5n to 11.3(1; tar- 

 sus, 1.80; bill, 1.25. 



(-/-eiiijrapiiical dislritiutioii : " Xorthern parts of 

 Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions in Nortli .Vmeiica ; 

 in winter to (xeorgia and theCireat Lal^es."" (A. O. U.) 



q.cct;ibills. 



south. 



casually. 



Tlic King Eider breeds from Laljrador, nortlnvard, and, aceordini;' to Board- 

 man, a few pairs have been kno\vn to breed in the Bay of Fundy, Maine. The 

 nest is usually a mass of twigs or moss lined with down. Tlie eggs are from 

 six to ten, pale green in color, and measure about 2.5.') .\ 1.1)0. On the Pacific 

 coast they are very aliuiidant in winter about the Aleutian Islands. 



