712 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LAMELLIROSTRES -AN SERES. 
feathering of its base ; plumage entirely diflferent, being nearly everywhere varied, chiefly in 
bars, with black, chestnut-brown, and yellowish-brown, giving way on the under parts to 
grayish-brown with dusky nebulation. Size less than that of the $ . This is the common 
eider of Europe, ^emidomesticated in some places, so famous for yielding the prized down of 
commerce, which the parent plucks from her breast to cover the eggs. It is also found in N. 
Am., as on Cumberland Sound ; but the common American eider is of the following character. 
734. S. m. dres'seri. (To H. E. Dresser, of England. Fig. 493.) American Eider Duck, Like 
the last ; plumage the same ; form of the bill different, exhibiting an approach to the structure 
of that of S. spectabilis. General protile of culmen concave, the frontal processes being wider, 
higher, more obtuse, and more divaricating than in S. mollissima proper (compare figs, and 
foregoing descri j>tion) . The difference is very obvious on comparison of specimens, and may 
be held of specific value if no intermediate specimens are forthcoming. Culmen 2.00 or more ; 
from apex of frontal processes to tip of bill about 3.00 ; along gape 2.50. 9 differs as in the 
case of S. mollissima proper. N. Am., northerly, especially on the Atlantic coast; also on 
large inland waters ; not noted from the N. Pacific ; S. usually in winter to New England, more 
rarely to the Middle States ; breeding frt)m the Maine coast northward, abundantly in New- 
foundland and Labrador, where it is one of the characteristic birds. Nest on the ground, of 
mosses, lichens, hay, and sea weed, to which feathers are added ; eggs 6-10, usually fewer, 
plain dull greenish -drab, about 3.00 X 2.00, laid in June and July. 
735. S. v-nig'rum. (Quasi-Lat. v-nigrum, noting the black Y-shaped mark on the throat). Pacific 
Eider. Like the two preceding, but with a large black Y-shaped mark on the throat, pointing 
forward and forking behhid, as in S. spectabilis. While the plumage is otherwise as in the com- 
mon eider, the shape of the bill and character of its feathering are appreciably different, furnish- 
ing useful characters, especially in the case of the 9 • The frontal processes are acute and parallel, 
as in S. mollissima, but the gibbosity of the bill is greater tlian in S. dresseri ; while the feathers 
upon its sides do not extend so far (scarcely or not reaching opposite the hind end of the nos- 
trils), and have rounded instead of acute termination; their lower border is also more nearly 
parallel with the edge of the commissure. The extension of the feathers on the chin equals or 
even surpasses that on the side of the bill, rather the reverse being the case with S. mollissima 
and dresseri. Pacific coast from the Arctic Ocean to California, commcm in suitable localities 
on both coasts and islands of Behring's Sea, and the polar coasts of Siberia ; replacing the 
common eider, and associated with the king, spectacled, and Steller's eiders. 
736. S. (E.) specta'bilis, (Lat. spectabilis, conspicuous, spectacular.) King Eider. Characters 
of bill and its feathering quite differing from those of other eiders, and moreover varying much, 
not only in the two sexes, but in the ^ at different seasons. In the adult ^, in the breeding 
season, the bill develops immense rounded or squarish lateral frontal processes, bulging liigh 
out of line with the rest of the bill ; these processes are soft, and moreover depend for their 
prominence upon the development of a mass of fatty substance upon which they are supported ; 
they shrink and become more depressed in winter, when the general formation of the parts is 
not very different from that of other eiders. The frontal feathers extend in a definite line along 
the elevated culmen to about opposite the hind end of the nostrils ; those of the side of the 
biU, on the contrary, fall far short of the nostrils ; those of the chin reach about opposite 
those of the culmen ; the whole feathered outline of the bill being thus very different from 
that of any other eider. In the 9 > though all the parts concerned are less developed, the same 
relative extension of feathers obtains, so that the bird is distinguished easily from the 9 
any other eider ; the culminal and mental feathers both reaching about opposite the nostrils, 
those on the side of the bill not extending nearly so far. Adult ^ : Black ; the neck and 
fore part of the body, most of the wing-coverts and lining of wings, and a spot on each side of 
the rump, white ; the white of the breast tinged with creamy brown ; the curly tertials black 
(white in other eiders). A black Y-shaped mark on the chin, as in S. v-nigriim. Top of head 
