THE EIDER DUCK. 359 



tarsus If; middle toe 2{§, its claw -£%. Weight in winter, 5 lbs. 5\ oz.; in 

 breeding time 4 lbs. 8|- oz. 



Adult Female. 



The female differs greatly from the male. The bill is shorter, its tumid 

 basal part much less and narrower. The feathers of the head and upper part 

 of the neck are very small, soft, and uniform; the scapulars and inner 

 secondaries are not elongated, as in the male. Bill pale greyish-green; iris 

 and feet as in the male. The head and neck all round light brownish-red, 

 with small lines of brownish-black. Lower part of neck all round, the 

 whole upper surface, the sides, and the lower tail-coverts of the same colours, 

 but there the brownish-black markings are broad. Secondary quills and 

 larger coverts greyish-brown, tipped with white, primaries brownish-black; 

 tail-feathers greyish-brown. Breast and abdomen greyish-brown, obscurely 

 mottled. 



Length to end of tail 24 inches, to end of wings 20^, to end of claws 27; 

 extent of wings 39; wing from flexure Hi; tail 4; bill 3 T 7 2-; tarsus If; mid- 

 dle toe 2^, its claw f f. Weight in winter 4 lbs. A.\ oz.; in breeding time 

 3 lbs. 12 oz. 



The down of the female is light grey; that of the male on the white parts 

 is pure white, on the dark, greyish-white. 



I have represented three of these birds in a state of irritation. A mated 

 pair, having a few eggs already laid, have been approached by a single male, 

 and are in the act of driving off the intruder, who, to facilitate his retreat, 

 is lashing his antagonists with his wings. 



Adult Male, from Dr. T. M. Brewer. The roof of the mouth is broadly 

 and deeply concave; the posterior aperture of the nares linear, 10 twelfths 

 long, margined with two rows of very pointed papillae. Tongue 2 inches 

 long, convex above, with a large median groove, fleshy, very thick, with a 

 semicircular thin-edged horny tip; the breadth at the base 4f twelfths, at the 

 tip 4 twelfths; the sides with two longitudinal series of bristles. The width 

 of the mouth is 1 inch 3 twelfths. The oesophagus is 10^- inches long, for 

 4| inches, its width is 1 inch, it then enlarges so as to form what might be 

 considered as a kind of crop, 1 inch 7 twelfths in width; after this it con- 

 tinues of the uniform diameter of 1 inch, but in the proventriculus, Fig. 1, 

 b c, enlarges to 1^ inches. Its muscular walls are very thick, and the 

 external fibres conspicuous, the inner coat longitudinally plicate. The left 

 lobe of the liver is 2 inches 2 twelfths long, the right lobe 4 inches. The 

 gall-bladder elliptical, 1 inch 5 twelfths in length, 11 twelfths in breadth. 

 The stomach, c d efg h, is a gizzard of enormous size, placed obliquely, 

 transversely elliptical, its length 2\ inches, its breadth 3 inches. The pro- 

 ventricular glands are extremely numerous, and form a belt 2 inches in 



