BIRDS-FULIGULINAE—SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA. 
809 
In giving the two well known species of this genus, I add a third, recently described by Gr. 
R. G-ray, from the northwest coast of North America. 
Common characters .—Colors white and black; head with a gloss of emerald green ; belly, 
rump, and tail, black. 
White. Belly, rump, quills, and stripe on each side of head above eyes, black. Frontal 
process on each side nearly in line with culmen ; rounded behind. S. mollissima. 
Similar to last; with a Y-shaped black mark on chin..... S. V-nigra. 
Black. Body and neck anterior to shoulders, middle coverts, inside of wing, patch on each 
side the rump, white. Head above and nape bluish ash. Margin of frontal process and a 
V-shaped mark on chin black. Frontal process of bill on each side bent abruptly upwards, out 
of line with culmen, and sub-rectangular....... S. spedabilis. 
SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA, Leach. 
Eider Duck. 
Anas mollissima, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 198.— Gmelin, I, 514.— Lath. Ind. II, 1790, 845.— Wilson, Am. Ora. VIII, 
1814, 122; pi. lxxi. 
Somateiia mollissima, Leach, Fleming, Philos. Zool. 1822?— Swainson, F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 448.— Bon. List, 1838.—• 
Brandt, Mem. Ac. St. Pet. Sc. Nat. VI, 1849, 5. 
Anas ( Fuligula ) mollissima, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, 244. 
Fuligula ( Somateria) mollissima, Bon. Syn. 1828, 388.— Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 407. 
Platypus mollissimus, Brehm. 
Fuligula mollissima, Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 344 : V, 611, pi. 246 .—Ib. Syn. 291 .—Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 349 ; 
pi. 405. 
Anas cutlibertii, Pallas. 
Somateria St. cutlibertii, Eyton, Mon. Anat. 1838,149. 
Eider, or Cuthbert Duck, Pennant. 
Sp. Ch.— Tail of 14 feathers. Prevailing color white ; the under surface and sides of body, hinder part of back, rump, and 
tail, black. Wings white on both surfaces, except the quills, which are black. Narrow margin inferiorly of the frontal process 
of bill and the forehead violet black, this color bifurcating opposite the middle of the eye, and continued broadly on each side 
the head to the nape, the color extending a little below the eye ; the white below and behind the black glossed with transparent 
emerald green; the interspace white. Length, 26; wing, 11.24; tarsus, 1.82 ; commissure, 2.53. 
Eab. —Atlantic and Arctic coasts of northern hemisphere ; Pacific coast N. A. ? 
There is a faint tinge of purplish cream color in the white, especially conspicuous on the 
breast and wings. The black of the back and belly is separated by white on the flanks. 
The tertials have a slight outward bend, but much less than in S. spedabilis. The frontal 
process of the bill is elongated and rounded behind, and about in a line with the culmen. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
Whence obtained. 
No. 
480 
A 
North Atlantic__ 
S. F. Baird_..._ 
August 20, 1858. 
102 b 
