Family ANATID^E. Genus Somateria. 



Subfamily Fuljgulin^. 



STELLER'S EIDER. 



SOMATERIA STELLERI— (PflZ/aj). 



Geographical Distribution. — British .• Very rare straggler 

 to the British Islands in autumn and winter. The very slender 

 claim of this species to rank as " British " is based on the 

 following occurrences — England : Norfolk (i example), February, 

 1830. Shot at Caistor, near Yarmouth, a nearly adult male, 

 formed the subject of the illustration in Yarrell's British Birds 

 and now preserved in the Norwich Museum ; Yorkshire ( i 

 example), August, 1845. Shot on the sea off Filey Brigg, a 

 male assuming nuptial plumage, and now in the collection of 

 Lord Scarsdale. Foreign : North-eastern Palasarctic region, and 

 possibly the extreme north-west of the Nearctic region ; more 

 southerly and westerly in winter. The exact breeding range 

 of this species is very imperfectly known. It has been found 

 breeding in Kamtschatka, the islands round about Behring Strait, 

 the Aleutian Islands, the delta of the Lena, the Taimyr penin- 

 sula, the coast of Russian Finmark, and in the Varanger Fjord. 

 In winter it is found in Northern Norway, in the Baltic, in the Sea 

 of Okhotsk,"and on the coasts of the Kurile Islands. During this 

 season it has been observed in Denmark, Heligoland, North 

 Germany, and France. 



Allied Forms. — None of sufficient propinquity to call for 

 notice. 



Time during which the Steller's Eider may be taken. 

 — August ist to March ist. 



Habits. — But little has been recorded of the habits of Steller's 

 Eider. The bird appears, however, very closely to resemble 



