122 



EIDER DUCK. 

 ANAS MOLLISSIMA. 

 [Plate LXXI.— Fig. 2, Male.'] 



UOye a duret, ou V Eider, Briss. YI, p. 294. pL 29, 30. — Burr. IX, p. 103. pi. 6.— P?. EnL 209.— 

 Great Black and White Buck, Edw. pi. 98. — Bewick, II, p. 279. — ^rct. Zool. JV1o. 480.— Lath. 

 Syn. Ill, p. 470.— Peale's Museum, JVo. 2706. 



THE Eider Duck has been long celebrated in Europe for 

 the abundance and excellence of its down^ which for softness, 

 warmth, lightness, and elasticity surpasses that of all other ducks. 

 The quantity found in one nest more than filled the crown of a 

 hat; yet weighed no more than three quarters of an ounce ;^ and 

 it is asserted that three pounds of this down may be compressed 

 into a space scarce bigger than a man's fist ; yet is afterwards so 

 dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square.t 



The native regions of the Eider Duck extend from 45° north 

 to the highest latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and Ame- 

 rica. Solitary rocky shores and islands are their favorite haunts* 

 Some wandering pairs have been known to breed on the rocky 

 islands beyond Portland in the district of Maine, which is perhaps 

 the most southern extent of their breeding place. In England the 

 Fern Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, are annually visited by 

 a few of these birds, being the only place in South Britain where 

 they are known to breed. They occur again in some of the West- 

 ern isles of Scotland. Greenland and Iceland abound with them, 

 and here, in particular places, their nests are crowded so close 

 together that a person can scarcely walk without treading on 



* Pennant. 



f Salern. Orn. p. 416. 



