406 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
hence any reader of general literature is likely to meet accounts of the eider-duck , 
or at least allusions to its appearance and habits. The eider-down is collected 
from the nests, and one of these will yield somewhat over a single ounce. It 
is said that the annual exportation from Greenland and Iceland exceeds six or 
seven thousand pounds, so that the eider-duck feathers not only its own nest but 
that of the persons who steal the provision it has made for the comfort of its 
young. In Norway the eider-duck has given rise to an industry so considerable, 
so general, and so important that it is protected by special legislation, as well 
as by the interested regard of those who 
derive from it their means of subsistence. 
The eider-duck , like the brahma bulls and 
the sacred monkeys of India, has learned 
to improve its opportunities and will in 
the most fearless manner enter the houses 
of the peasants and there build its nest, 
plucking the down from its own breast to 
insure the comfort of its young. It is al¬ 
lowed to select any location that strikes its 
fancy, so that at times it will rob the 
family of the use of their beds, a privation 
which would be greater if these were any 
softer than the floor. The eider-duck is 
about two feet and a quarter in length, 
and its wings when extended will stretch 
fully three feet. It weighs six or seven 
pounds, but is rarely eaten because of “ an 
ancient and a fish-like ” taste. It is still 
found in America as far south as the State 
spectacled eider duck. of Maine, but in earlier days was com¬ 
mon even in the vicinity of Boston. It has 
been discovered that the eider-duck if robbed of its nest and eggs will repair 
its loss by repeating its previous efforts, and 
that it will continue for several times this at¬ 
tempt to recover from misfortune. Hence the 
collectors of eider-down avail themselves of 
this maternal interest, and turn the duck 
into somewhat of a drudge. The eider-duck 
is a good diver and an excellent swimmer, 
but as a walker it is unusually awkward 
even for a waddler. The plumed drake has 
a head velvety black on top and green on 
the back, white side-face, green ear-muffs, 
white throat and upper neck, buff lower neck, 
black breast and under parts, except for a white spot on the under body back 
of the legs. Its wings have the first and second series of feathers black, 
and the unchanging third set long and white; green is the color of its legs. 
The duck is a mottled russet. 
The Piping Duck, Red-headed Poker, or Pochard Dun-Bird (. Fuli - 
gula clangula ), appears in northern Europe during the early fall, and migrates in 
PIPING DUCK. 
