418 
ANATIDiE. 
are translated from Holboell’s “ Fauna Groenlands,” 
which is singularly deficient in that information as to the 
nesting habits of the birds, which would have been the 
most valuable. Captain James Ross says that “vast num¬ 
bers of this beautiful duck resort annually to the shores 
and islands of the arctic regions in the breeding-season/' 
He says, further, that they “are often met with in the 
Atlantic Ocean, far distant from any land where the nu¬ 
merous crustaceous and other marine animals afford them 
abundance of food/' 
The great distance from land at which these birds were 
met with by Captain Ross, may be explained by the re¬ 
marks of Holboell as to their great powers of diving, who 
says also that it is wonderful with what instinct they dis¬ 
cover banks in deep water. 
Its nest, like that of the eider duck, is lined with down, 
and contains five eggs, which are less than those of the 
common species, and usually, though not always, of a 
bluer tint, sometimes, as in the first figure of the plate, of 
a deep blue-green. 
The eggs figured are in the collection of Mr. Salmon, 
and were sent from Greenland, with several others, by 
Mr. Holboell. 
