THE EIDER DUCK AT HOME. 
233 
about three inches in length. The bird itself measures 
from twenty-four to twenty-seven inches in length ; it is of 
a clumsy shape, but is remarkable for the beauty of its 
plumage, which is soft and dense, and on the breast espe- 
cially so. The head is black above, with a white band 
over it ; the hind part of the cheeks and nape are pale 
green, the breast, sides, abdomen, and rump black, the 
foreneck cream-coloured, and the rest white. 
The food of the Eider (says Macgillivray) consists of bivalve 
moUusca, which it obtains by diving, as well as of Crustacea, fishes 
and the roe of both. I am not aware of its ever feeding on vegetable 
substances in its natural state, and yet when domesticated, it has 
been found readily to eat grain. This remarkable faciUty of transition 
from an animal to a vegetable food, appears to be very common to 
this family of birds, and is said to produce a corresponding change in 
the character of their flesh as an article of food. That of the Eider, 
under its common regimen, is, I think, fully as palatable as the flesh 
of the mallard. The flight of the bird is direct, steady, and mode- 
rately rapid. It swims well, sitting lightly, although from the 
flatness of its body, it seems to sink considerably, and in diving, 
is capable of remaining a considerable time under water. In all 
these respects it differs little from the Scoter and Fuligulie. It is 
difficult to shoot, being wary, and diving rapidly. 
That enterprising female traveller Madame Ida Pfeiffer 
gives us the following graphic picture of the home of the 
Eider Ducks in Iceland : — 
The little island of Vidoe, about a mile from Reikjavick, is gene- 
rally mentioned by travellers as the principal resort of the Eider Ducks. 
On the 8th of June I visited the place, and found myself greatly dis- 
appointed in the number of birds assembled there ; for although I saw 
many sitting quietly on their nests on the slopes of the meadows and 
between the rocks, so far from being in thousands, I doubt if there 
were in all more than a hundred or a hundred and fifty nests. The 
tameness of the Eider Duck, while brooding, is very extraordinary. I 
had always looked upon the wonderful stories I had heard on this 
subject as fables, and should do so yet, if I had not been an eye-wit- 
ness to the fact myself. I approached, and laid my hands on the 
birds while they were sitting ; yes, I could even caress them without 
their attempting to move from their nests ; or, if they left them for 
a moment, it was only to walk off for a few steps, and remain quietly 
waiting till I withdrew, when they immediately returned to their 
station. Those whose young were already hatched, however, would 
beat their wings with violence, and snap at me with their bills when 
