Steller's Eider. 177 



not wliite as in 5. mollissima ; the curious elongated innermost secondaries are 

 black, in the Common Eider these are yellowish-white. These peculiar feathers, 

 although found in other Somaieria, are absent in Steller's Eider. There is a 

 black chevron-shaped mark under the chin ; fore-neck white ; breast a creamy- 

 bufiF; the rest of under parts intense black, with a white spot on each side on 

 the flank. 



The female is smaller and redder in plumage than the Common Eider. In 

 both the male and female the feathers on the centre of upper mandible reach as 

 far forward as the nostrils, and extend beyond those on the sides of the bill ; the 

 reverse is the case in the Common Eider. In Somateria v-nigrum, the feathering 

 on the bill is the same as in 5. mollissima. 



In the "eclipse" dress the male Eider, in this and the preceding, is so altered 

 as to be scarcely recognizable ; the whole bird being nearly coal black. It is said 

 to be very good eating. The adult male and female are beautifully figured in 

 Lord Lilford's " Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands." 



Family— ANA TIDAZ. 



Steller's Eider. 



Somateria stelleri, PalL. 



THIS most beautiful Duck was originally described by the Russian traveller 

 and naturalist, Pallas, (1769), and named by him after its discoverer, Steller, 

 who obtained it on the shores of Kamtschatka. Steller's Eider, or Western Duck 

 as it was formerly named in error, inhabits the Arctic and Subarctic coasts of the 

 Northern Hemisphere, and its breeding range extends from the Varan ger Fjord, 

 in the west, to Bering's Straits and Sea. It is recorded on the Prybilov and 

 Kurile Islands, some wintering on the latter. It is very common both in Northern 



