Eider-Duck 1 9 
from the rocks, and would attack the pickers with great spirit, using beak, wings, and feet, 
should they object to the levying this toll ! " 
Eiders obtain all their food from the bottom of the sea, and are able to reach such 
depths as 30 to 35 feet with ease. Most of their feeding grounds are on the lee " side of 
skerries, but in many instances the feeding ground is situated on the skerry itself, or a 
shelving bank where large waves are constantly breaking. The flock often vanishes for 
several minutes, and, even when they appear amongst the worst breakers, they possess so 
sure an instinct of where it is possible to float with safety that a few strokes backwards 
or forwards with their powerful paddles is sufficient to place them in such a position that 
they are not overwhelmed. Unlike their neighbours, the Long-tailed Ducks, who have 
a habit of just sliding through a breaker to the other side as it is about to fall upon them, 
Eiders dive again at once in search of food, as if it were a waste of time to bother about 
temporary comfort. 
Where mussels are abundant, large flocks sometimes of a hundred and more may be 
seen feeding together, whilst on the coasts of Norway as many as a thousand are often 
noted, and a large party diving amongst the breakers is at all times a pretty and interesting 
sight. They dive in a somewhat clumsy fashion, with the afterpart of the body thrown 
well up, with the tail spread, and in heavy currents the half-opened wings are used under 
water to assist progression. They continue to feed for two or three hours, but desist as 
soon as the incoming tide causes too great a depth on the feeding ground. Then they leave 
in small parties, flying away to more sheltered channels and islands, where they can spend 
a few hours in rest and preening. In winter, in our islands, they seldom go ashore, except 
in the most deserted islands and coasts of the Orkneys and Shetlands, where they are never 
subject to molestation ; but as the spring advances they seem to exhibit greater tameness, 
and to come more and more to land edges, until by March and April it is common to see 
them sitting on the rocks in the warm hours of the day. 
In winter Eiders are very silent birds, like all the sea-ducks except the Long-tail, and 
their voice is not often heard except when single individuals are searching for their friends. 
The male, when swimming, occasionally utters a hoarse grating call like the words " Kor- 
er-korkorr-kor," and the female a slightly higher note, " Kar-er-karkar-kaa." The female 
also utters this call when she is flying. It is not until the approach of the mating season 
that the male makes use of the soft call, "Aa-huh" or "Aa-00," and this, I think, is 
distinctly a love-call. But it may frequently be heard as early as January on fine days, 
and in very early seasons, such as that of 1913, Eiders were in full show" by the middle of 
that month as my friend Mr. St. Quintin informs me. I do not think that the male ever 
utters any note when flying ; at least I have never heard one. The young in down make a 
"peeping" cry like the Common Mallard, and when following the mother keep up a gentle 
" Peip, peip " if left behind. 
The courtship of the Eider ^ is a very simple one, and somewhat undemonstrative. It 
is essentially in accordance with the gentle disposition of the bird. The female seems to 
be at least as amorous as the male, and pays considerable court to the object of her 
affections. Having selected a mate she follows him round and round in all his movements, 
stretching her neck out and sinking low in the water, calling and pushing herself against 
^ See Au^, 1910, p. 179, and Jourdain, Bri'i. Bird Book, § 11, p. 280. 
