Species XIII. ANAS MOLLISSIMA. 



EIDEE DUCK. 



[Plate IXXI. Fig. 2, Male.] 



L'Oye d, duvet, ou V Eider, Briss. vi., p. 294, pi. 29, 30.— Bpff. ix., p. 103, pi. 6.— 

 PI. Enl. 1Q^.— Great Black and White Buck, Edw. pi. 98.— Bewick, ii., p. 279.— 

 Arct. Zool. No. 480.— Lath. Syn. m., p. 470.* 



The Eider Duck has been long celebrated in Europe for the abund- 

 ance and excellence of its down, which for softness, -warmth, lightness, 

 and elasticity surpasses that of all other Ducks. The quantity found 

 in one nest more than filled the crown of a hat ; yet weighed no more 

 than three-quarters of an ounce ;t and it is asserted that three pounds 

 of this down may be compressed into a space scarce bigger than a man's 

 fist ; yet is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square.J 



The native regions of the Eider Duck extend from 45° north to the 

 highest latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and America. Solitary 

 rocky shores and islands are their favorite haunts. Some wandering 

 pairs have been known to breed on the rocky islands beyond Portland 

 in the district of Maine, which is perhaps the most southern extent of 

 their breeding place. In England the Fern Isles, on the coast of 

 Northumberland, are annually visited by a few of these birds, being the 

 only place in South Britain where they are known to breed. They 

 occur again in some of the "Western Isles of Scotland. Greenland and 

 Iceland abound with them, and here, in particular places, their nests 

 are crowded so close together that a person can scarcely walk without 

 treading on them. The natives of those countries know the value of 

 the down, and carry on a regular system of plunder both of it and also 

 of the eggs. The nest is generally formed outwardly of drift grass, 

 dry seaweed, and such like materials, the inside composed of a large 

 quantity of down plucked from the breast of the female ; in this soft 

 elastic bed she deposits five eggs, extremely smooth and glossy, of a 

 pale olive color ; they are also warmly covered with the same kind of 

 down. When the whole number is laid, they are taken away by the 

 natives, and also the down with which the nest is lined, together with 

 that which covers the eggs. The female once more strips her breast of 



* Anas mollissima, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 514, No. 15. — Ind. Orn. p. 845, No. 35. 

 t Pennant. % Salem. Orn. p. 416. 



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