44 British Diving Ducks 
" They can be caught Hke other diving duck in the often-described duck-nets, stretched horizontally 
under water. 
" According to Seebohm, the natives in East Siberia kill a great quantity of them with snares while 
the birds are flying over a narrow tongue of land." 
The plucked skins and heads and necks of the males (unplucked) of this species are 
sent in large numbers from Greenland to the taxidermists in Copenhagen, Bergen, and 
Trondhjem, where they are made into beautiful bed-quilts similar in form and even more 
beautiful than those made from the Eider. 
The flesh of this duck is considered to be inferior to that of the Eider, and the ex- 
crescence on the bill of the male is considered a delicacy by the Esquimaux. 
Up to date no aviculturist has succeeded in obtaining living specimens of this beautiful 
duck, but it is to be hoped that they may be able to do so in the future, for there is little 
doubt that they would live and breed in confinement, probably even more happily than the 
Eider, as they have a greater preference for fresh water. 
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