132 
EIDER DUCK. 
JJV^S MOLLISSIJIM. 
[Plate LXXL— Fig. 2, Ma/e.] 
Gmel. Syst* I, /». 514, Ab. 15. — Ind. Orn.p. 845, Ab. 35. Gen* Syn* III, />. 470, JVo.29,^ 
L^Oye a diwet^ ou VEider^ Briss. VI, p* 294, pi. 29. — Buff. IX, p. 103, pi. 6. PL EnL 
209. — Great Black and White Duck^ Edw. pi. 98. — Bewick, II, p. 279, — Arct. ZooL No* 
480. Br. ZooL No* 271. — Temm. Man* (POrn* p* 848.“-WiLLUGHBy, p* 362, — Sa- 
LERNE,/>. 415. — Pe ale’s Museum, No* 2706. 
THE Eidei’ Duck has been long celebrated in Europe for 
the abundance and excellence of its doxvn, which for softness, 
warmth, lightness, and elasticity, surpasses that of all other Ducks. 
Pennant states that the quantity found in one nest more than filled 
the crown of a hat ; yet weighed no more than three quarters of an 
ounce; and it is asserted by Salerne that three pounds of this 
down may be compressd into a space scarce bigger than a man's 
fist ; yet is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square. 
The native regions of the Eider Duck extend from 45° north 
to the highest latitudes yet discovered, both in Europe and Ame- 
rica. Solitary rocky shores and islands are their favorite haunts. 
Some wandering pairs have been known to breed on the rocky 
islands beyond Portland in the district of Maine, which is perhaps 
the most southern extent of their breeding place. In England the 
Fern Isles, on the coast of Northumberland, are annually visited by 
a few of these birds, being the only place in South Britain where 
they are known to breed. They occur again in some of the West- 
ern isles of Scotland. Greenland and Iceland abound with them, 
and here, in particular places, their nests are crowded so close 
together that a person can scarcely walk without treading on 
