432 EIDER-DOWN. 
on the island of Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy. The most southern 
breeding place in Europe is said to be the Fern or Farn Isles, on the 
coast of Northumberland. 
Willughby, quoting Wormius, says that the eider " ducks build them- 
selves nests on the rocks and lay good store of very savoury and well- 
tasted eggs, for the getting of which the neighbouring people let them- 
selves down by ropes dangerously enough, and with the same labour 
gather the feathers (eider-doun our people call them), which are very 
soft and fit to stuff beds and quilts, for in a small quantity they dilate 
themselves much (being very springy), and warm the body above any 
others. These birds are wont at set times to moult their feathers, en- 
riching the fowlers with this desirable merchandize. Willughby also 
remarks that when its young ones are hatched it takes them to the sea 
and never looks at land till next breeding time, nor is seen anywhere 
about our coasts." 
This early account is in the main correct ; but there are two kinds 
of eider-down ; the live down as it is termed, and the dead down ; the 
latter, which is considered to be very inferior in quality, is that taken 
from the dead bird. The down of superior quality, or live down, is 
that which the duck strips from herself to cherish her eggs. Its light- 
ness and elasticity are such, it is asserted that two or three pounds of it 
squeezed into a ball, which may be held in the hand, will swell out to 
such an extent as to fill a case large enough for the foot covering of a 
bed. It is collected in the following manner :— The female is suffered 
to lay her five or six eggs, which are about three inches in length and 
two in breadth. These, which are very palatable, are taken, and she 
strips herself a second time to supply the subsequent eggs. If this 
second batch be abstracted, the female, being unable to supply any more 
down, the male plucks his breast, and his contribution is known by its 
pale colour. The last deposit, which rarely consists of more than two 
or three eggs, is always left, for if deprived of this, their last hope, the 
bereaved birds forsake the inhospitable place ; whereas, if suffered to 
rear their young, the parents return the following year with their pro- 
geny. The quantity of down afforded by one female during the whole 
period of laying, is stated at half a pound net, the quantity weighing 
nearly a pound before it is cleansed. Of this down Troil states that the 
Iceland Company sold in one year (1750) as much as brought 850/. 
sterling, besides what was sent to Gluckstadt. 
The haunts of birds capable of producing so valuable an article are 
not unlikely to be objects of peculiar care ; we accordingly find that in 
Iceland and Norway, the districts resorted to by them, are reckoned 
valuable property and are strictly preserved. Every one is anxious to 
induce the eiders to take up their position on his own land, and when 
they show a disposition to settle on any islet, the proprietor has been 
known to remove his cattle and dogs to the mainland in order to make 
