2 2 British Diving Ducks 
made an attempt to escape beyond the downy edge of the nest across the field after the mother, who in 
the well-known fashion, with drooping wings, waddled and tumbled about, pretending to be ill and dis- 
abled. In the following year, on May i8, 20, and 23, newborn ducklings were to be seen; on June 10 
I sailed, together with H. Winge and Th. Krabbe, from the preserved Svaneklapper, south of Saltholm, 
back to Dragor, and on the way I noticed several female birds with broods of ducklings a good way from 
land. The ducklings were the size of a teal and dived cleverly. One duckling a little bigger is exhibited 
in the Zoological Museum (April 19, 1892). It is covered with feathers on the belly, the shoulders, and 
the top of the head, otherwise with down. 
" Nilsson states ' that eggs are to be found in the beginning of May, and even in the beginning of 
June'; von Wright, in Chapter I. p. 84, communicates that in the Bohuslan Skerries the Eider-ducks 
' at the commencement of the hatching season in April push still farther towards land, and brood in the 
innermost fjords.' 
" Seeing that most of the Eider-ducks found and shot here on our coasts during the winter are sure 
to be hatched either here or in Sweden and South Norway, one cannot be far wrong in fixing June i as 
the day of their birth ; therefore, when speaking of the age stated in months as regards the typical Eider- 
duck, this is on an average reckoned from June i." 
In our northern islands I have seldom noticed more than 4 or 5 eggs in the nest, 4 
being the usual number. When the last egg has been laid the female plucks out much of her 
own down to use for the surrounding parts of the nest, and to this she daily adds more until 
it forms a dense covering, in case by any chance she might be forced to leave. Of all sea- 
ducks the Eider provides more down for her nest than any other species. If undisturbed, 
she sits for the whole period of incubation ; but if disturbed, the mother bird only goes a 
very short distance and squats on the ground, as if exhausted by the effort, and then waddles 
back to her nest as soon as the intruder has passed. Female Eiders on their nests seem to 
exhibit various degrees in their fear or tameness towards man, and in this show that all 
individuals are not alike. I remember once walking very quietly into a colony of Eiders in 
Iceland which were nearly all sitting closely, as the date, June 10, was about the hatching 
time. Some of the females flew straight away from their nests in some fear, and settled 
out on the sea about 100 yards distant. Others left their nests and flew round me, uttering 
a gentle croaking cry, and then alighted and waddled about in uneasy fashion. Others 
sprang out of their nests, ran a few yards, and sat down watching me, but in no unfriendly 
way, w^hilst the majority paid little heed to my intrusion beyond depressing their necks as 
they sat on their eggs. Many were so tame that I am sure they could have been touched 
and remain on their nests, whilst my brother adjusted his stand-camera and took photo- 
graphs at a range of 2 or 3 yards. As we approached the colony, three females, each 
with four newly-hatched young, were found sitting on the shore, but these at once put to sea 
with haste, the mothers swimming with powerful strokes, and the young scurrying after in 
the slight back-wash immediately behind her scapulars. In the case of two of these 
families, the mother stopped after a short time and allowed two young ones to mount her 
back, and thus burdened she looked like a little boat with her passengers. Whilst we 
stayed in the Eider colony two males occasionally came in from the sea and flew round us, 
as if they still betrayed some anxiety for their respective families, but I saw no others in 
the neighbourhood. 
As long as the female is laying eggs the male stays close by, and is often to be 
seen sitting on the shore or swimming in the sea close at hand. Once, however, the female 
begins to sit continuously, the male gradually withdraws to the society of other males, 
