176 FULIGULIN2E. SOMATERIA. 
tal membranes full ; claws small, slender, arched, com- j 
pressed, obtuse, that of the third toe with the inner edge 
expanded. Plumage dense, elastic, soft, glossy ; feathers 
of the head and neck slender and blended ; wings short, j 
convex, narrow, pointed, the first and second quills long- j 
est ; inner secondaries elongated and tapering ; tail ge- 
nerally small, much rounded, or tapering. 
The Fuligulin93 are for the most part marine birds, 
inhabiting bays and estuaries, where they dive in shallow I 
water in quest of their food, which consists of sea-plants, j 
mollusca, and Crustacea. Some of them approaching ! 
nearer to the Anatinae, are often seen on fresh water, 
where they feed chiefly on mollusca. They are all ex- 
pert divers, swim with ease, sit low on the water, owing 
to the breadth of their bodies, walk little and ungrace- 
fully, but have a rapid direct flight. They nestle on the 
shores of the sea, on islands, or by fresh-water lakes or i 
rivers, often lining their nests with down plucked from 
their bodies. The eggs are moderately numerous, smooth, J 
thin-shelled, of one colour, white or greyish, greenish or 
bluish. The young betake themselves to the water pre- 
gently after birth. The males desert the females when in- j 
cubation has commenced. The flesh of these birds is 
generally rank and very dark coloured, but that of some 
is highly esteemed on account of its peculiarly rich fla- 
vour. The species are pretty numerous, and scarcely two j 
agree precisely in the form of the bill, so that genera 
have been very unnecessarily multiplied. 
GENUS CXXIX. SOMATERIA. EIDER-DUCK. 
Birds of large size, having the body of an elliptical form, 
bulky, and much depressed ; the neck of moderate length 
and thick ; the head large, oblong, and compressed. Bill 
nearly as long as the head, higher than broad at the base, 
depressed toward the end, where it is considerably narrowed, 
but rounded ; upper mandible with the lateral sinus very 
