234 ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL. 
Male.—Crown of head and nape bluish-grey; cheeks 
below eye, greenish ; neck and upper back white; under body 
black; back black; shoulder white; large white spot on sides 
behind legs; bill deep red; formation of bill differs from 
the Common Eider, the fork of the upper mandible spreading 
like a spoon on each side of the forehead; legs yellow; 
eye yellow. ‘ 
Female.—Closely resembles Somaterta mollissima, a 
simple method of distinction between the two species being 
that in the female King Eider, the tip of the frontal ridge 
of feathers is exactly on a line with the nostrils, whereas in the 
Common Eider Duck the nostrils are placed considerably 
below the termination of the feathered ridge. 
Young.—In down resembles the Common Eider, but 
may be distinguished by the conformation of the bill. In first 
feather resemble the female, with a few dark lines on the 
throat. Full plumage is not acquired till the fourth year. 
Egg.—Dusky-green; rounded; ‘“greenish-grey” (See- 
bohm); four to six in number. 
Nest Down.—‘“Closely resembles that of Common 
Eider” (Seebohm). 
