CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
299 
river was full of floatlnc: ice. The color differs a great deal in different 
individuals at the same season. An expert diver; hard to shoot except 
on the wing. The long tail-feathers, when the bird is at rest on the 
water, stick up at an angle of 60°. Breeds abundantly on every beach, 
in a very simple nest without any lining. D. 
157. Folysticta Stelleri Eyton. (598.) Steller's Duck. Kadiak 
(Bischoff). ' D. 
158. Lmnpronetta Fischeri Brandt. (599.) Spectacled Eider. This 
rare duck breeds only in the marshes between the Island of St. Michael's 
and tlie mainland, which are intersected by a narrow channel called the 
canal. It is not found near the Yukon mouth, nor even a few n)iles 
south of the canal ; nor, according to the repeated assertions of the 
natives, at any point on Norton Sound to the north of St. Michael's. Its 
winter habitat is unknown, possibly Cook's Inlet or Bristol Bay. It is 
not abundant, even at St. Michael's. Several specimens, which were 
reported to have come from other localities, have been definitely traced 
to this point. The Russian name for all the eiders is Pistrak, and this 
species is known as the small pistrak. 
A nest was discovered in the centre of a small pool in a marsh, built 
on a tussock just above the surface of the water. It was oval, lined with 
dry grass, and contained two eggs, which were surrounded and covered 
with down, evidently from the breast of the parent. The eggs are small 
for the size of the bird, of an olivaceous brown. There was a number 
of others breeding in the vicinity, and also a number of the S. v -nigra 
and some eggs were obtained which, from their resemblance to identified 
specimens, were probably those of S. spectabilis, although the parent was 
not fully identified. The eye of tlie Lampronetta is dark brown or hazel, 
not blue as has been asserted. The fall plumage of male and female is 
nearly identical; it is a dark brown with black pencilings, only the 
faintest indication of the spring markings remaining. When flying, these 
birds usually go in flocks. The last one killed in 1867 was got September 
27th, but they probably remained a short time longer. D. 
Moderately common near Fort St. Michael's. Some fifteen or eighteen 
individuals were shot during the spring of 1866, of which I secured the 
greater number. 
This species, and Som. v -nigra, arrive a little later than most of the 
other ducks and some of the geese, making their appearance usually 
about the 6th of May. In habits the two species are apparently very 
similar, both breeding in this vicinity. The Lampronetta is, however, 
I think, the shyer of the two, and the more difficult to observe on that 
account. It breeds in the vicinity ; its nest, as described by Mr. Dall 
(who saw two of them), and other parties, is a simple depression in a 
grassy hummock, without any lining other than the grass and a little 
down and feathers. 
In July and August, during the moulting period, this bird is said to 
