AMEKICAN EIDBE. 57 



west coast to Dumb-bell Bay, latitude 82°; not abundant north of 

 about 78° latitude. There is a lack of definite knowledge concerning 

 the western limits of the range of this species. It is certain that the 

 eiders of Hudson Bay, west to longitude 87°, belong to this form. It 

 is also certain that the common eider on the Arctic coast of north- 

 western North America is S. v-nigra, and that this form occurs east 

 along the coast of the mainland to about the mouth of the Coppermine 

 Kiver, 115° longitude. There seems to be no specimen of either 

 form in any collection from the Arctic islands west of Baffin Bay. 

 It is a fair presumption that the eiders of Wellington Channel and 

 vicinity — longitude 90°-95°, where the species is common north to 

 77° latitude — belong to the eastern form and that those of Banks 

 Land, longitude 115°-125°, are S. v-nlgra, but the dividing line 

 between the two forms remains to be determined. The typical form, 

 Som,ateria mollissima, breeds in northwestern Europe and comes south 

 in winter rarely to southern Europe. 



Winter range. — In winter the northern eider ranges from southern 

 Greenland and northern Hudson Bay south on the Atlantic coast to 

 Massachusetts. 



Spring migration. — Just north of the winter range, at Cumberland 

 Sound, latitude 66°, the first appeared April 30, 1878; in Wellington 

 Channel, latitude 76°, May 17, 1851; at Cape Sabine, latitude 79°, 

 May 28, 1884; and at Thank God Harbor, latitude 81°, June 4; 1872. 



The latest stragglers on the coast of New England leave the first week 

 in April. The first eggs on Cumberland Sound were found June 21, 

 1878; the first at the south end of Greenland, June 24, 1886. 



Fall migration. — The earliest migrants arrive on the coast of Massa- 

 chusetts the last of October; the last were seen at Dumb-bell Bay, Sep- 

 tember 5, 1875; at Thank God Harbor, November 4, 1872; and in 

 Cumberland Sound, November 17, 1878. 



Somateria dresseri Sharpe. American Eider. 



Breeding range. — The American eider rarely breeds on the coast of 

 Maine; formerly its- breeding range extended to the western side of 

 Penobscot Bay, but is now restricted to a few colonies in Jericho Bay 

 and on Old Man Island; it breeds abundantly on the shores of the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence and is fairly common north to the mouth of Hamilton 

 Inlet, latitude 54°; it breeds commonly on the east shore of Hudson 

 Bay, from latitude 54° to latitude 56°, and on the west shore in the 

 vicinity of Fort Churchill. 



Winter range. — The American eider winters as far north as New- 

 foundland; is common in the Gulf of St. Lawrence through the win- 

 ter, and is not uncommon as far south as the Massachusetts coast; it 

 is casual on the New Jersey coast, and is accidental near Marshall 

 Hall, Md., and near Cobbs Island, Virginia (December 28, 1900). In 



