227 



KING DUCK. 



KING EIDER. 



Somateria spectalilis, .... Flejuitg. 



Anas spectalilis, ..... LnraiEr/s. 



Canard d tete grise, .... Temmixck. 



Somateria. Qufere, Soma — A body, and Pteron — A wing; on account of its heavy flight. 



Spectalilis — Worthy of notice. 



This large and very handsome Duck is extremely rare in this country; it was intro- 

 duced into our list on the authority of the late Mr. Bullock, who informed Colonel 

 Montagu, that he had met with it breeding on Papa "Westra, one of the Orkney Islands, 

 towards the end of June. One specimen was killed in 1827, upon the coast of Suffolk, 

 at Aldborough; and was in the collection of J. D. Hoy, Esq., of Stoke-by-Nayland ; 

 we are not aware of any other specimen having been procured in England; but in 

 Ireland, Mr. Thompson mentions four individuals as having been obtained; one at Kings- 

 town Harbour, near Dublin, about the 1st. of October, 1837, which is now in the 

 Dublin University Museum: another in the winter of 1843, at Derrynane, celebrated as 

 the residence of Daniel O'Connell : another in Tralee Bay, in the winter of 1845-6 : 

 and the last on the 11th. of March, 1850, in Belfast Bay, which came under Mr. 

 Thompson's immediate inspection. All these were either females, or young males. Mr. 

 C. St. John states that it is very rare at the Kyle of Tongue, in Sutherland. 



The King Eider is found in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; in Iceland, and the 

 Earoe Islands; and in fact in all the lands within the Arctic Circle, where it seems 

 to take the place of the Common Eider. 



They are fishy, but nevertheless are in much esteem by Arctic navigators, as affording 

 wholesome fresh food in those inhospitable regions. 



In their habits they are maritime; they form large flocks during the winter; the 

 adult males by themselves; while the young birds of both sexes join the females. 

 During the breeding-season they associate in large numbers, like the Common Eider, 

 and their nests are very thickly placed on the ground. This species furnishes large 

 quantities of valuable down, like the Common Eider. 



