Steller's Eider 
47 
specimen, but it is certain that after this stage, and early in July, the young male Steller's 
duck moults into an eclipse similar in its relation to the old male eclipse that the young 
male Eider assumes. The wings and tail (and probably a portion of the vent and under 
and upper tail-coverts) only remain in their worn and faded state until completely renewed 
in September and October to the next winter change. It is probable also that the young 
male does not assume the full spring dress and breed at 2 years old, but so far no specimens 
are available in public or private collections ; but with its similarity to the Eiders it seems 
more than likely that the bird does not pair and breed until it is in its third year. 
Adult Male. — Crown, sides of the head, and upper neck, silky-white; local spot and 
occipital patch forming a slight crest, rich olive-green ; chin and throat a narrow line of black, 
until it forms a broad collar which encircles the neck, glossy blue-black with purplish sheen ; 
a small spot on each side of green occipital band, and also round the eye, black ; centre of 
mantle, back, rump, and upper and under tail-coverts, black shot with bluish-purple ; on 
each side of the mantle and upper scapulars, white ; long scapulars lanceolate, bluish-purple, 
and edged with white along the margins ; secondaries bluish-violet edged with white ; the 
innermost feathers sickle-shaped and distinctly tipped with white ; upper wing-coverts 
white ; tail and primaries dark brown ; under surface of the body almost brown-black, 
passing in rich sienna and then to cream-buff on upper breast and flanks ; a white collar 
just below black neck circle ; bill and feet blue-grey or lead-colour ; nail inclined to bone- 
colour ; ^ irides dark brown. Length, 18 inches ; wing, 8.4 inches ; tarsus, 1.2 inches. 
There seems little doubt that the males change to eclipse in July, as is the case with all 
diving ducks. 
The old male in first eclipse I have not seen, but an interesting specimen of an adult 
male emerging from the eclipse plumage into the winter dress (killed in Finmark in 1847) 
retains a sufficient portion of the summer dress to show that the whole of the mantle, upper 
scapulars, chest, and flanks were blackish-brown, with bars and edges of sandy-brown ; the 
lower back and tail-coverts, under and upper belly, were probably black throughout the eclipse, 
whilst the wings, long scapulars, and tail have only been renewed once, as is usual, without 
change of colour from the spring dress. The most interesting part of this bird is the fact 
that the whole of the head, cheeks, and throat is a uniform sandy-brown, without the black 
or dark-brown spots we usually associate with nearly all eclipse plumages of the Eiders 
(see Fig. 7). 
ImmatMre Female. — Very similar to adult female in winter plumage, but easily 
distinguished by the absence of black in the lower breast and abdomen. These parts in the 
young female are somewhat similar to the immature female Eider, and are black with broad 
sandy edgings. The worn ends of the pale brown first plumage tail are also points of 
identification. The white alar bars on the wings are present, but the whole plumage on 
the upper surface is more narrowly barred and not so chestnut in colour as the adult 
female. The secondaries are brown with a slight purple gloss. 
There is a very interesting second year immature female in the Bergen Museum which 
was killed at Fiskeroen on September 25, 1877. The nape, back, and breast are all of a 
rich chocolate-brown ; rump and vent blackish ; cheeks reddish-brown ; crown chocolate- 
brown ; the wings have just been moulted, and are as in the adult ; the greater part of the 
^ Mr. P. Musters informs me that the feet and bill of an adult male shot by him in Norway were light grey ; irides dark^brown. 
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