THE EIDEK, DUCK. 
289 
the eider ducks flew off only a little way^ and returned to 
effect this covering, after which they flew off apparently with- 
out much solicitude. The males, as well as females, pluck 
this down from their breasts, and the former prove assidu- 
ous attendants on the females when sitting, and are occa- 
sionally seen to sit on the eggs to keep them warm during 
the absence of the mother to procure food. The down is 
so tenacious that it adheres with great readiness to any 
rough substance, and in this way the nests are effectually 
prevented from being blown away or overturned by winds. 
The males leave at the close of the summer; and, when 
the winter commences, the females and young, some of 
which are still quite weak on the wing, may be met with, 
according to Captain Beechey, in immense flocks, a hundred 
miles or more from land. He believes that they winter in 
Norway, and occasionally a stray bird comes into our lati- 
tude, much to the joy of the collector of British birds, when 
he secures it for his collection. 
Many are the enemies of the eider ducks in the Arctic 
regions, although one of these enemies has a certain amount 
of consideration not shown by the others. The Esquimaux 
who inhabit the coast of Bafhn^s Bay remove the eggs be- 
fore the birds begin to sit on them^ until they have collected 
u 
