The Eider Duck.- 
-BIKDS.- 
-The Goosander. 
42b 
length ; it has the head and neck chestnut-red, the lower 
part of the neck and the breast deep black, and the 
rest of the plumage freckled with delicate gray spots 
and lines upon a white ground. The eye is red. This 
bird is a winter visitor to this country, and breeds in 
the extreme northern parts of both hemis|)heres. Its 
flesh, when it feeds in fresh wate.s, is exceedingly 
good ; but specimens killed on the sea-shore are 
coarse, and of a bad flavour. The Canvas-backed 
Duek (A. Valisneria) of North America, a nearly- 
allied species, is noted for the goodness of its flesh. 
THE TUFTED DUCK [FuUgida cristata) is another 
abundant and well-known British species, which chiefly 
frequents the sea-coast. It occurs all over the nor- 
thern parts of the Old World. This is a short and 
stout-bodied bird, with a small crest on the back of 
the head ; the male has the head and neck and the 
back black, and the lower surface white, whilst the 
female is dark brown above and grayish white beneath. 
Its length is about seventeen inches. 
Of other allied species we may mention the Har- 
lequin Duck (Fuligula histrionica), the ScAUi' 
Duck {F. marila), the Golden-eye (F. clangula), 
the Buffel-headed Duck (F. albeola), and the 
Long-tailed Duck [Harclda glacialis), all of which 
visit our shores for the winter season. 
THE EIDER DUCK (Somateria iriollissima) — fig. 132 
—an inhabitant of some parts of the British coasts, 
especially towards the north of Scotland, is most abun- 
dant in the extreme north of both hemispheres, where 
it breeds amongst the rocks of the coasts in vast quan- 
tities. The male of this species has the cheeks white, 
the top of the head black, the back of the head green, 
the back and smaller wing-feathers white, the primaries 
and secondaries and the great wing-coverts black, the 
lower surface and tail black, and the neck white, 
with its lower part pale buff ; the bill is dusky green, 
M’ith its tip white, and the feet are green. The length 
is rather more than two feet. The female is pale brown, 
variegated with spots of a, darker brown. 
The Eider Du( k frequents the sea-coast and feeds 
upon marine animals. It is highly valued on account 
of the great quantity of very fine, soft, and elastic down 
which it produces, and which is most aimndant in the 
breeding season, at which period the female plucks this 
delicate substance from her skin, and employs it as a 
lining for her nest. The down is collected from the 
nests by the inhabitants of countries where Eider 
Ducks abound ; and as the female continues to lay 
and to pull the down from her body for a considerable 
time when thus plundered, it is said that she will fur- 
nish as much as half a pound of this material in the 
course of the season. It is much esteemed for its warmth 
and lightness, and is employed in the manufacture of 
quilts and similar articles. 
THE COMMON SCOTER {Oidcmia nigra) is entirely 
Fig. 132. 
of a black colour, with only the ridge of the upper 
mandible orange ; the female is paler and blackish- 
brown. Its length is about nineteen inches. This 
bird is a winter visitor to our coasts, and feeds upon 
mussels and other bivalve mollusca, which it procures 
by diving, an exercise in which this and all the marine 
ducks are very expei-f. 
THE lOBATED DUCK [Hydrohntes lobafus), a native 
of Southern Australia, is remarkable for the singular 
leathery flap which hangs down beneath the lower 
mandible in the male. The plumage of this bird is of 
a blackish colour, crossed by numerous paler lines. It 
measures about thirty inches in length. 
THE GOOSANDER {Mergus Merganser) — fig. 133. 
Besides the preceding forms, which all possess a broad 
and more or less depressed bill, the present family in- 
cludes a considerable number of species in which that 
organ is nearly cylindrical, or even compressed, with 
the upper mandible terminated by a strongly- hooked 
nail. These birds frequent both iiiland waters and the 
sea-shore, and are chiefly confined to the northei n 
parts of the world. They are exceedingly active in 
The Eider Duck (Somateria mollissima). 
