Eider-Duck 
21 
I have not observed that the males fight much at this season. It is common to see one 
drive another away that has come too near his mate, but the attacked one always seems 
to give way, and beyond a rush of white water there is no holding and actually fighting as 
we see in some other species. 
In our islands Eiders are now adequately protected by the Wild Birds Preservation 
Act, whilst in all other European countries it is looked upon as an act of sacrilege to inter- 
fere with the Eiders in the breeding season, owing to the fact that the down is an article of 
value to the neighbouring farmers. In consequence Eiders seem to be on the increase in 
all their breeding haunts, and there become so tame that they may almost be said to be 
domesticated. On the Fro Islands opposite Trondhjem, they are so tame and the nests so 
crowded that it is almost impossible to walk in some places without treading on the birds 
or their eggs, and on the little island of Videy, opposite Reykjavik, Iceland, my brother 
took photographs of Eiders on their nests within three paces without disturbing them. 
Even in Orkney I have stroked a female Eider on her nest without her leaving it, and 
have seen another on the Isle of May (Firth of Forth) that was equally tame. 
Generally about the first week in May, the female Eider seeks some spot not far 
removed from the water's edge in which to place her nest. The site is often hidden in 
hollows amongst small or large boulders, and often completely exposed on a tussock, where 
it can be seen from a distance. Many females nest close together, the nests often touching, 
and where they are well protected they often make their nests close to, and even on, the 
sides of human habitations, or amongst old masonry. F. Boie relates that in one place in 
Norway Eiders are often found breeding in the kitchens of inhabited houses, and that they 
become so trustful that they will allow themselves to be stroked, lifted from the nest, and 
replaced again without running or flying away. 
The framework of the nest is generally composed of sea-grass (Zosmarina /era), and 
sea-weed {Fmcms vesiculosus), and other kinds, whilst moss or the stalks of dry plants are 
often placed on the sides or bottom of the cavity. The bowl is often wide and deep and 
firmly put together. In one island of the Bay of Firth, near Kirkwall, I found three Eiders' 
nests close together that were entirely composed of sea-weed, there being no other material 
whatsoever except the lining of down. 
In Denmark and the southern coast of Norway the eggs are often laid in the beginning 
of May, but farther north early in June is the common date. Numbers of young Eider are 
seen in Denmark, I. of Sylt, &c., in the first week in June, but in the Orkneys and Shet- 
lands it is rare to see young Eiders before the ist of July, and I have seen a brood on the 
Island of Damsey, Orkneys, just hatched so late as the ist of August. 
Speaking of the nesting habits and the period of hatching of Eider-ducks in Denmark, 
Mr. E. Lehn Schioler says in his paper : 
" If the bird is not frightened away from the nest she remains calmly sitting, especially if it be near 
the end of the hatching season, allowing one to come quite close to her. On May 23, 1905, I again saw 
brooding Eider-ducks on Saltholm ; one female bird let me come so near that I succeeded in photo- 
graphing her with a hand-camera, within the distance of a few yards. There were three of us, and we 
all stood erect next to the bird. Another female bird left the nest and we saw the eggs break the 
young ones were on the point of bursting the shell. Finally a third female left the nest hurriedly, though 
we drove past it, and revealed six newborn ducklings, one of which broke out of the family crowd, and 
