2 8 British Diving Ducks 
this process the most difificult parts to extract are the small horny bits of sea-weed with tough, 
leather-like edges. The latter are difficult to remove without blemish, and so two qualities 
of down are created, namely, that which has contained particles of sea-grass, &c., and that 
which has been much pulled about by the extraction of sea-weed. 
Eider-down loses more than half its weight by the removal of foreign matter. Even 
after a nest has been robbed three times, a single Eider only produces about J lb. of 
marketable down ; and even this has to be subjected to further treatment by drying in the 
sun, for the purpose of eradicating the tiny bits of salt which adhere to it and attract 
moisture. 
The business of collecting the eider-down is generally vested in the local inhabitants 
of the far north. Although, properly speaking, the lands may belong to the Crown, local 
landowners have always claimed the right, and deal directly with various companies who 
send their agents to collect the down at the end of the summer. The Icelandic companies 
generally make a profit of about loo per cent, by the business. As an example of the 
methods employed, the collection, sale, and prices of eider-down, R. Blasius says, in the 
new edition of Naumann [Vogel Mitteleuropas, x. p. 235) : 
" On the Fro Island, belonging to Tobias U. Borthen, situated west of Drontheim, and which 
I visited this summer, there nest about 4000 to 5000 pairs of Eider-Ducks. Out of a total number of about 
2400 large and small skerries, crags, and islands, some dozens are inhabited by Eider-Ducks. The 
fishermen's families always living on the islands have the duty of collecting the down. Each family 
has its own district, and scours the nests in the middle of June. The down is later cleaned in Drontheim ; 
I kg. of cleaned down is procured from 6 to 6.5 kg. of uncleaned. On an average, 50 to 70 kg. of 
cleaned down is procured annually. The kilogram costs at present 28 krone — 31 marks in Drontheim. 
The price varies, moreover, very much ; thus, according to information given me by Herr Karl 
Langerfeldt of Brunswick, Tromso eider-down was sold this spring in Copenhagen for 54 marks the 
kilogram, Greenland eider-down for 46 marks." ^ 
In the Faeroes I have seen large colonies of Eiders from which the down is taken 
as a regular business. 
On the shores of Isafiardarjup there is a great colony of the ducks. So thick are 
the nests clustered among the stones, that it is almost impossible to walk without treading 
upon them. For generations the birds have bred there, and, indeed, every inducement 
is held out for them to make the island their home. This island, some three-quarters 
of a mile in length, is a huge farm for Eiders. A little way above high-water mark a 
strong breakwater has been built, but at the foot of the wall and along the sides there is a 
cavity where every second stone should have been laid. These compartments form excellent 
nesting places, and there the ducks make their tiny homes. Everywhere on the island 
similar provision is made for the birds — even a farm-house has its full complement of 
nests. Ducks hatch their eggs in " apartments " in the walls, in the window embrasures, 
on the ground around the house, and even on the roof itself. Brown-feathered backs in the 
season may be seen popping out of every and any unexpected place. They would make 
a nest on the door-knocker if one were there and remained steady enough. Hillocks 
are cut into squares like immense draughtboards, rocks are carefully arranged, mounds are 
dug with caution, all for the purpose of giving the little brown Eider a chance to nest and 
hatch her eggs. 
^ Pearson and Bidwell {Ibis, 1894, p. 233) estimate the value of i lb. of cleaned eider-down at 15s. yd. to i6s. 8d. 
