230 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



Baltic and North Sea ; it is also found in America, and on the 

 southern coasts of France, as well as on the edge of the Northern 

 Ocean. The nest is usually placed in some indentation in the sand, 

 the female frequently choosing a rabbit's hole, situated in a sand- 

 bank. The poor rabbit, thus turned out of its burrow, never ventures 

 to return to it. 



Fig 87.— The Shieldrake. 



The Eider Duck {Anas molissimd). 



The Eider Duck, though remarkable for beauty of plumage, is 

 nevertheless a very clumsy bird. In form it is bulky, depressed, 

 and elliptical, with large, oblong, and compressed head. The 

 plumage is dense and fine ; the head-feathers are short, tufted, and 

 rounded, and, blending with the terminal filaments, disunited ; the 

 wings diminutive, concave, narrow, and pointed, the tips of which 



