ADDENDA 
THE EIDER-DUCK 
Lord William Percy kindly sends me the following notes on three young Eiders reared by him 
in the summer of 191 3: 
"10 days old. — Down lighter on the breast than on the back, but very dark all over; light 
stripe over the eye and along the side of the jaw very conspicuous. Legs and feet black with a 
dull olive stripe running down the outer and inner sides of each toe. Bill dull slate ; nail pinkish. 
I rides dark brown. 
"31 days old. — Feathers now coming in rapidly. Down not so dark as at 10 days, and 
stripes on the head less distinct — in fact, hardly visible. Legs and feet bluish-slate ; toes and 
stripes along sides of toes light bluish-slate. Eye and bill same as before. Nail pale bone 
colour. 
" The first full feathers are visible on the 33rd day on flanks and head. On 37th day a 
large patch on the flanks and the whole of the lower breast and belly are feathered. The young 
are full feathered on the 40th day, but traces of down remain on head and back. Primaries still 
undeveloped. 
" During the early stages of life the habits of young Eiders reminded more of geese than 
ducks. On the approach of a man they work their heads about, and their continuous and musical 
chatter is rather goose-like. It struck me as remarkable that during the first few days of life they 
were very poor swimmers, and ran rather than swam on the surface of the water with their bodies 
held very upright. They spent most of the day in water of their own depth, and a short swim 
made them very wet. Perhaps this was due to the fact that they were on fresh water. There 
was, however, a remarkable change in their powers of swimming after a fortnight, when they were 
then as much at home in water as any diving duck. 
"One of the three spent as much time in catching flies as any surface-feeding duck, whilst the 
other two never seemed to take any notice of flies ; their attentions being entirely confined to the 
bottom of a small stream. They all have one trick which they constantly employ to obtain food. 
They rest on a small pool of water and tread water violently for a few seconds, and then search 
about in the vortex of small stones and sand. They make a great commotion with their large 
feet. Now at the 48th day one of the young males is showing a considerable number of white 
feathers on the back." 
152 
