OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 449 



to snare." I am pleased to be able to record that my opinion 

 respecting the breeding of the King Eider in these islands is 

 shared by others of much wider experience of the ornithology 

 of this district than myself. Mr. John A. Harvie-Brown, the 

 gentleman so frequently alluded to in these pages relative to the 

 habits of some of the least known of the species, says in epistola : 

 " I shall be glad if you succeed in getting undoubted King 

 Eiders. Personally, I believe they breed on the Dan [Doon] 

 every year.'' 



Nidification. — The King Eider breeds even later than the 

 Common Eider, probably because its summer range nowhere 

 reaches quite so far to the south, and extends more to the north. 

 Its eggs are laid during the first half of July. It appears to 

 arrive at its most northerly breeding stations in flocks towards the 

 end of June. The nests are made on islands as well as on the 

 coasts of the mainland, and are placed in similar situations to those 

 of the Common Eider. The nest is merely a depression in the 

 ground, which may or may not contain a little vegetable refuse, 

 but is always warmly lined with down from the body of the 

 female by the time the full number of eggs is deposited. The 

 eggs, so far as is known, are six in number and pale greenish gray 

 in colour, smooth in texture, and with little gloss. They measure 

 on an average 2-6 inches in length by 175 inch in breadth. 

 Down tufts similar in every respect to those of the preceding 

 species. Only one brood is reared in the year. The habits 

 of this Eider during the nesting period and after the young are 

 reared do not differ from those of allied species. 



Diagnostic Characters. — (Nuptial plumage), Somateria, 

 with the upper back white and the falcated scapulars black, and 

 with a black stripe on each side of the throat meeting on the 

 chin, forming a V-shaped mark (adult male) ; with the feathers 

 on the forehead extending beyond those on the side of the 

 bill (adult female). Length, 24 inches. 



2 G 



