THE EIDER DUCK. 353 



eight are sometimes found beneath a single bush. Many are placed on the 

 sheltered shelvings of rocks a few feet above high-water mark, but none at 

 any considerable elevation, at least none of my party, including the sailors, 

 found any in such a position. The nest, which is sunk as much as possible 

 into the ground, is formed of sea-weeds, mosses, and dried twigs, so matted 

 and interlaced as to give an appearance of neatness to the central cavity, 

 which rarely exceeds seven inches in diameter. In the beginning of June 

 the eggs*are deposited, the male attending upon the female the whole time. 

 The eggs, which are regularly placed on the moss and weeds of the nest, 

 without any down, are generally from five to seven, three inches in length, 

 two inches and one-eighth in breadth, being thus much larger than those of 

 the domestic Duck, of a regular oval form, smooth-shelled, and of a uniform 

 pale olive-green. I may here mention, by the way, that they afford delicious 

 eating. I have not been" able to ascertain the precise period of incubation. 

 If the female is not disturbed, or her eggs removed or destroyed, she lays 

 only one set in the season, and as soon as she begins to sit the male leaves 

 her. When the full complement of eggs has been laid, she begins to pluck 

 some down from the lower parts of her body; this operation is daily con- 

 tinued for some time, until the roots of the feathers, as far forward as she 

 can reach, are quite bare, and as clean as a wood from which the under- 

 growth has been cleared away. This down she disposes beneath and around 

 the eggs. When she leaves the nest to go in search of food, she places it 

 over the eggs, and in this manner, it may be presumed to keep up their 

 warmth, although it does not always ensure their safety, for the Black- 

 backed Gull is apt to remove the covering, and suck or otherwise destroy 

 the eggs. 



No sooner are the young hatched than they are led to the water, even 

 when it is a mile distant, and the travelling difficult, both for the parent 

 bird and her brood; but when it happens that the nest has been placed 

 among rocks over the water, the Eider, like the Wood Duck, carries the 

 young in her bill to their favourite element. I felt very anxious to find a 

 nest placed over a soft bed of moss or other plants, to see, whether, like the 

 Wood Duck on such occasions, the Eider would suffer her young ones to 

 fall from the nest; but unfortunately I had no opportunity of observing a 

 case of this kind. The care which the mother takes of her young for two 

 or three weeks, cannot be exceeded. She leads them gently in a close flock 

 in shallow waters, where, by diving, they procure food, and at times, when 

 the young are fatigued, and at some distance from the shore, she sinks her 

 body in the water, and receives them on her back, where they remain 

 several minutes. At the approach of their merciless enemy, the Black- 

 backed Gull, the mother beats the water with her wings, as if intending to 



Vol. VI. 49 



