88 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



species having been seen occasionally in Ontario, but of such occur- 

 ences the records are very few. 



William Loane, of Toronto, reports having killed a pair near that 

 city in the spring of 1865, and in the fall of 1881 he killed another, 

 a female, which is now in the rooms of the Toronto Gun Club. 



One of the residents on the beach, near Hamilton, told me some 

 years ago that he had seen a pair there in spring. The male in full 

 plumage was correctly described by my informant, and spoken of 

 as the most " dapper little drake " he had ever seen. The name 

 Harlequin is suggested by the peculiar markings on the head of the 

 male, which are supposed to resemble those often assumed by the 

 clown in a circus. 



In the eighth volume of the bulletin of the Nuttal Club, Dr. 

 Merriam gives the following summary of the bird's breeding range : 

 " In Siberia it is known to breed about Lake Baikal and in the 

 Bureza Mountains (Radde), in Mantchuria, and at various points in 

 the great Stanowi Range (von Niddendorf), about the upper Amoor 

 (von Schreuck) and in Kamtschatka. On the American continent 

 it has been found breeding along the tributaries of the Yukon in 

 Alaska (Dall), in the interior of the fur countries and about Hudson's 

 Bay (Richardson), on the fresh-water ponds in Labrador (Audubon), 

 and in the Rocky Mountains within the limits of the United States 

 (Coues). It also nests in Greenland, Iceland and Newfoundland." 



In all these places, and wherever else it appears, it is regarded as 

 very rare. 



Genus SOMATERIA Leach. 



Subgenus SOMATERIA. 



SOMATERIA DRESSERI Shaepe. 



56. American Eider. (160) 



Bill, with long club-shaped frontal processes extending in a line with the 

 culmen upon tlie sides of the forehead, divided by a broad featliered interspace. 

 Male : — In breeding attire, white, creamy -tinted on breast and washed with 

 green on the head ; under parts from the breast, lower back, rump, tail, quills, 

 and large forked patch on the crown, black. FtumJe : — With the bill less 

 developed, general plumage an extremely variable shade of reddish-brown or 

 ochrey -brown, speckled, mottled and barred with darker ; male in certain 

 stages resembling female. Length, about 2 feet; wing, 11-12 inches. 



Hab. — Atlantic coast of North America, from Maine to northern Labrador, 

 south in winter to the Delaware. 



