steller's eider. 353 



and tawny on lower-breast ; a purplish-black patch on sides of 

 breast ; sides of body and flanks cinnamon-buff shading to light 

 buff ; centre of breast sepia shading to black- brown on belly, vent 

 and under tail-coverts ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white ; 

 tail-feathers sepia, when fresh glossed violet-purple or blue-black, 

 outermost pair in some with small white mark towards tip ; pri- 

 maries sepia shading to black-brown on outer webs and tips, inner 

 primaries sometimes edged white ; secondaries sepia with broad 

 white tips, paler and shading to white on inner webs, all except 

 outer one with outer webs glossed violet-purple or sapphire -blue, 

 innermost with inner webs mostly white and with white shaft- 

 streaks ; primary- coverts sepia ; bastard- wing and rest of primary- 

 coverts sepia more or less edged white, rest of wing-coverts white. 

 Very little moulting material examined. N.B. — There is consider- 

 able individual variation in colour of under-parts. Eclipse. — (Not 

 examined.) 



Adult female. Winter and summer. — Crown and nape dark 

 sepia or black-brown, feathers with more or less concealed pink-buff 



B 



Steller's Eider (Polysticta stelleri). — A. Adult female. B. Adult male bill from below. 



bars ; mantle, back and rump brown-black more or less barred 

 pink -cinnamon, feathers of mantle edged same ; scapulars black- 

 brown narrowly edged cinnamon- brown, lower ones with outer 

 webs glossed blue-black ; upper tail-coverts brown-black narrowly 

 edged cinnamon-brown ; lores, cheeks and sides of neck pink-buff, 

 feathers tipped and barred sepia ; chin, throat and fore -neck paler, 

 feathers more or less barred and tipped dusky and with whitish bases 

 imperfectly concealed ; feathers of upper-breast with broad brown- 

 black V-shaped marks and bars and broad tawny fringes ; sides of 

 body and flanks sepia or black-brown, feathers edged tawny and 

 with occasional pink-buff bars ; rest of breast, belly, vent and under 

 tail-coverts warm sepia or brown-black, feathers sometimes more 

 or less edged tawny ; axillaries, under wing-coverts and tail as 

 male but coverts at edge and bend of wing with sepia centres and 



VOL. II. 2 a 



