A LABRADOR SPRING 
pencillings of rich brown and black, and each 
feather is a work of art. The dress is modesty 
itself, but in richness of colouring and good 
taste it cannot be excelled. In fact, as a con- 
stant companion, I should prefer the richly 
but modestly dressed duck to the gaudy drake, 
but this, of course, is my inherited masculine 
taste, a taste, however, that appears to be 
shared by the drake. 
That the drake is fond of the duck is evident 
from the love-makings that go on in these cold 
waters, and indeed the study of the courtships 
of the eider was one of my greatest interests in 
this Labrador spring. Everywhere we went 
among the rocky islands that line the coast, 
pairs and little bands of eiders abounded. We 
found twenty nests on one island of a few 
acres, and, on our walk around Esquimaux 
Island, we must have seen at least 500 of these 
beautiful birds. They were usually in pairs, 
and, when flying, the female preceded, closely 
followed by the male. This was certainly the 
rule when the birds were flying about un- 
aware of: the -presence of man, but, when 
disturbed or frightened by his presence, I re- 
gret to have to state that the male often 
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