176 British Birds with their Nests and Eggs. 



Sir J. Richardson says it is purely a sea Duck, and was never known by 

 him to frequent fresh-water, and only partially migratory, moving as far as to get 

 access to open sea-water. Males in flocks alone, and females and young together, 

 are seen far out on the Atlantic, where the number of crustaceans and other 

 marine animals supply an abundant source of food. In winter, in America, it is 

 a casual visitor to the Great Lakes and New Jersey. 



The King-Eider has been once obtained in Heligoland, a young male, shot 

 on the nth of January, in 1879. The most southern record is the English 

 Channel. On December 12th, 1892, a fine male was got near Dugort, Achill 

 Island, on the west coast of Ireland, (" Zool." 94, 151). 



The food of the King-Eider is the same as that of 5. mollissima. The 

 stomachs of those killed during the Arctic expedition, in Polaris Bay, were 

 generally found to contain shrimps. One, an old female, killed off Hunstanton, 

 in November, 1890, contained remains of a star-fish, found abundantly on the 

 mussel-scaups, and presumably Ophiura albida, of Forbes. 



The nest resembles that of the Common Eider, and the eggs, six in number, 

 are covered with similar down. The colour of the eggs, as given by Bullock, are 

 a yellowish-white, they are also described as a greyish-green. Like the males of 

 other Ducks they moult the whole of their quills at once. Mr. G. Gillett, (" Ibis," 

 1870, p. 309), writes : — " in Matthew's Straits," (Novaya Zemlya), " on the 6th of 

 August, I saw several of these birds in small flocks, all apparently immature 

 males. I shot two specimens ; their wings were entirely destitute of quill feathers, 

 so that they could not fly; but they dived in a wonderful way, and were very 

 difficult to get. They were apparently full grown ; but were dark brown on the 

 head and back, and blackish in places. The protuberance on the bill was of a 

 rich orange, shading ofi" on the bill itself to a pinkish flesh colour ; the irides 

 dark." 



The King- Eider, although clumsy in appearance and heavy, is a rapid flyer. 

 I have no knowledge of its call; should it, however, resemble that of a closely 

 allied species, Somateria v-nigrum, it is as the cooing of doves, (" Ibis," 1878, 435). 



In the adult male the beak is orange-yellow, with a large and prominent 

 orange coloured protuberance, almost level with the top of the head, at the base ; 

 legs and feet also orange, and irides yellow ; the crown and nape pearl or bluish- 

 grey. Those delicate blue-grey oval patches so frequently inserted into the borders 

 of Eider down coverlets and quilts, sold in the Norwegian fur shops, are all taken 

 from the head and nape of the King- Eider, and I have often been surprised at 

 the very large number of old male King- Eiders which must be sacrificed to supply 

 the demand. The cheeks are pale green ; the lower part of the back is black and 



