236 WATER FOWL. 



black. Top of head and occiput, pearly gray. Yellowish white 

 stripe over and behind the eye. Cheeks, pale sea green; this 

 color extending on sides of head along the pearly gray until it 

 fades away in white. Rest of head, chin, throat, neck, upper part 

 of back, wing coverts (except the greater and outer webs of lesser 

 coverts) and a large patch on each side of rump, white. Breast, 

 dark cream buff, varying, however, among individuals in inten- 

 sity. Greater vying coverts, scapulars, and primaries, brownish 

 black; the scapulars and tertials sickle shape bending over the 

 wing, and rufous along the shaft. Lower back, rump, upper tail 

 coverts, and rest of under parts, black. Tail, brownish black. 

 Bill varies considerably in shape at different periods of the year. 

 In the breeding season, a high, square, soft process is elevated on 

 the culmen between the base and the nostrils, and supported by 

 some fatty substance. Matrimonial duties finished this shrinks, 

 and the bill on its upper outline returns to nearly the normal 

 Eider shape. On account of this protuberance the feathering 

 on the maxilla is quite different from that of the other species 

 of the genus, and on the elevated culmen nearly reaches the 

 nostril, while on the side it extends but a short distance beyond 

 the corner of the mouth. Bill and elevated process, reddish 

 orange. Iris, yellow. ' Legs and feet, orange red. Total length, 

 about 23 inches; wing, 11 ; culmen in front of process, i-^; 

 tarsus. If. 



Adult Female. — Head, chin, and throat, dark buff, streaked 

 •with dark brown, conspicuously on top of head and but faintly on 

 the sides. Chest and sides, light buff, with irregular black bar on 

 tip of feathers. Feathers of back and scapulars, blackish brown, 

 with yellowish tips. Shoulder of wings, blackish brown; tips of 

 feathers, rufous. Greater coverts and secondaries, black, with 

 white tips, forming two narrow bars across the wing. Outer 

 webs of tertials, rufous. Rump and upper tail coverts, dark buff, 

 barred irregularly with black. Tail, black. Under parts, black- 

 ish brown; under tail coverts, rufous, with V-shaped black bars. 

 Bill, greenish brown. Legs and feet, dull ochre. Total length, 

 about 23 inches; wing, lof; culmen, ij; tarsus, if. 



Downy Young. — Resembles that of the Common Eider, but the 

 upper parts are more rufous, and the cheeks, throat, and under 

 parts more yellow. 



