52 ' FEMALE EIDER DUCK. 
colour, somewhat dusky in the middle; upper part of the 
head, deep velvet black, divided laterally on the hind head by 
a whitish band ; cheeks, white; sides of the head, pale pea- 
green, marked with a narrow line of white dropped from the ear- 
feathers ; the plumage of this part of the head, to the throat, 
is tumid, and looks as if cut off at the end, for immediately 
below the neck it suddenly narrows, somewhat in the manner 
of the buffel-head, enlarging again greatly as it descends, and 
has a singular hollow between the shoulders behind ; the 
upper part of the neck, the back scapulars, lesser wing- 
coverts, and sides of the rump, are pure white ; lower part of 
the breast, belly, and vent, black; tail, primaries, and second- 
aries, brownish black; the tertials curiously curved, falling 
over the wing ; legs, short, yellow; webs of the feet, dusky. 
Latham has given us the following sketch of the gradual 
progress of the young males to their perfect colours :—‘“ In 
the first year the back is white, and the usual parts, except 
the crown, black; but the rest of the body is variegated with 
black and white. In the second year, the neck and breast are 
spotted black and white, and the crown black. In the third, 
the colours are nearly as when in full plumage, but less vivid, 
and a few spots of black still remaining on the neck; the 
crown, black, and bifid at the back part. 
“The young of both sexes are the same, being covered 
with a kind of hairy down ; throat and breast, whitish ; and 
a cinereous line from the bill through the eyes to the hind 
head.” * 
FEMALE EIDER DUCK. 
PLATE LXXI.— Fre. 3. 
Peale’s Museum, No. 2707. 
SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA.—LEacH. 
Tue difference of colour in these two birds is singularly great. 
The female is considerably less than the male, and the bill 
* Synopsis, ii. 471, 

