352 



THE EIDER DUCK. 



It was of the usual bulky construction, and contained five eggs, deeply 

 buried in down. She flew round us until we retired, when we had the 

 pleasure to see her alight, walk to her nest, and compose herself upon it. 



Large flocks of males kept apart, and frequented the distant sea islands at 

 this period, when scarcely any were able to fly to any distance, although they 

 swam about from one island to another with great ease. Before their moult- 

 ing had commenced, or fully a month earlier, these male birds, we observed, 

 flew in long-lines from place to place around the outermost islands every 

 morning and evening, thus securing themselves from their enemies, and 

 roosted in numbers close together on some particular rock difficult to be 

 approached by boats, where they remained during the short night. By the 

 1st of August scarcely an Eider Duck was to be seen on the coast of 

 Labrador. The young were then able to fly, the o]d birds had nearly com- 

 pleted their moult, and all were moving southward. 



Having now afforded you some idea of the migrations and general habits 

 of this interesting bird from spring to the close of the short summer of the 

 desolate regions of Labrador, I proceed, with my journals before me, and my 

 memory refreshed by reading my notes, to furnish you with such details as 

 may perhaps induce you to study its habits in other parts of the world. 



The Eider Duck generally arrives on the coasts of Newfoundland and 

 Labrador about the 1st of May, nearly a fortnight before the waters of the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence are freed from ice. None are seen there during 

 winter, and their first appearance is looked upon with pleasure by the few 

 residents as an assurance of the commencement of the summer season. At 

 this period they are seen passing in long files not many feet above the ice or 

 the surface of the water, along the main shores, and around the inner bays 

 or islands, as if in search of the places where they had formerly nestled, or 

 where they had been hatched. All the birds appear to be paired, and in 

 perfect plumage. After a few days, during which they rest themselves on 

 the shores fronting the south, most of them remove to the islands that border 

 the coast, at distances varying from half a mile to five or six miles. The 

 rest seek for places in which to form their nests, along the craggy shores, or 

 by the borders of the stunted fir woods not far from the water, a few pro- 

 ceeding as far as about a mile into the interior. They are now seen only in 

 pairs, and they soon form their nests. I have never had an opportunity of 

 observing their courtships, nor have I received any account of them worthy 

 of particular notice. 



In Labrador, the Eider Ducks begin to form their nests about the last 

 week of May. Some resort to islands scantily furnished with grass, near 

 the tufts of which they construct their nests; others form them beneath the 

 spreading boughs of the stunted firs, and in such places, five, six, or even 



