THE EIDER-DUCKS 



277 



in this way, but woe to the person caught firing a 

 gun on or near the home-pond. When away 

 from home, the birds are as wild as other wild- 

 ducks and fail to recognize any members of the 

 Gray family. While at home they follow the 

 boys around the barn-yard, squawking for feed 

 like so many tame ducks. 



"This is the greatest sight I have ever wit- 

 nessed, and one that I could not believe existed 

 until I had seen it. Certainly it is worth travel- 

 ling many miles to see, and no one, after seeing 

 it, would care to shoot birds that, when kindly 

 treated, make such charming pets." 



AMERICAN EIDER. 



The Group of Eider-Ducks. — The arctic 

 and subarctic regions contain a group of about 

 seven species of large sea-ducks, called eiders 

 (i'ders). The representative species are dis- 

 tinguished by their flat foreheads and wedge- 

 shaped heads; by a long, wedge-shaped point 

 of the cheek-feathers which extends forward 

 and divides the base of the upper mandible; and 

 by the possession of more or less bright green 

 color on the head. 



On land, the eiders are heavy and clumsy 

 birds, but on the sea they are at home, and dive 

 with great ability. The females line their 

 nests very liberally with down from their own 



breasts, and this when gathered and utilized 

 becomes the well-known "eider-down" of com- 

 merce. Unfortunately, the natives of arctic 

 America are unable to make use of eider-down, 

 save on the skin, and this leads to the slaughter 

 of great numbers of the birds. 



Eiders nest on the tops of rocky islets, using 

 sea-weed or grass for a foundation, and covering 

 this with down plucked from their own breasts. 

 So abundantly is the nest lined that by the 

 time the eggs are all deposited they are fairly 

 embedded and covered in the softest of beds. 

 In Iceland, the eider-ducks are half domes- 

 ticated. The inhabitants collect the down 

 from the nests for sale, and therefore they are 

 much interested in preserving the birds. Nest- 

 ing-places are made for the birds by building 

 thick stone walls with spacious crevices along 

 each side, at the base, or by scooping out 

 shallow cavities in the hard earth. The Eiders 

 permit their human friends to go among them, 

 and even to handle their eggs. 



On the Atlantic coast, from Labrador to 

 Delaware in winter, we have the American 

 Eider, 1 which appears to be the best type for 

 the eider group. Fortunately for our chances 

 of close acquaintance with it, this species oc- 

 casionally penetrates westward along the great 

 lakes to Illinois and Wisconsin — a very unusual 

 proceeding for a sea-duck. Any bird which 

 will go so far out of its natural range in order 

 to become acquainted with interocean Ameri- 

 cans surely is worth knowing. Moreover, the 

 eider of the Old World so closely resembles 

 this bird in all essential details that to know 

 one species is to know the other also. 



The colors of this bird are black and white, 

 as shown in the illustration, except that the 

 nape and the rear portion of the region around 

 the ear are sea-green, and the tail and the pri- 

 maries are pale brown. The bill and feet are 

 olive-green. 



The Spectacled Eider,'- of northwestern 

 Alaska, is a bird easily remembered by its 

 name, and the large, white spot around each 

 eye which at once suggests a pair of spectacles. 

 This bird is limited to our arctic territory, and 

 is said, by Mr. E. W. Kelson, to be threatened 

 with extinction by man at no very distant day. 



1 So-ma-te'ri-a dres'ser-i. Length, about 23 inches. 



2 Arc-ton-et'ta fisch'er-i. Length, about 21 inches. 



