IN AUDUBON'S LABRADOR 



down are taken at intervals of a few days by 

 the owners of the 'Eider-fold,' and the birds 

 are thus kept depositing both during the whole 

 season; but some experience is needed to in- 

 sure the greatest profit from each commodity. 

 Every Duck is allowed to hatch an egg or two 

 to keep up the stock, and the. down of the last 

 nest is gathered after the birds have left the 

 spot. The story of the Drake's furnishing 

 down, after the Duck's supply is exhausted, is 

 a fiction. He never goes near the nest." An- 

 nandale^ says: "It was formally the custom 

 to take away all the down supplied by the fe- 

 male ; but this practice was said to lead to great 

 mortality among the ducks throu^ exhaus- 

 tion and nowadays each nest is generally rifled 

 only once before the eggs are hatched, and then 

 again after the young have left it." 



The same conservation of the eider exists 

 in Norway. Stejneger ^ says: "All along the 

 coast of Norway, where the bird is protected 

 by law throughout the year, the common ei- 

 der {Somateria mollissima), is now exceedingly 

 common and very tame. The inhabitants take 



> op. cit. 



* Riverside Natural History. 



313 



