810 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
SOM ATERIA Y-NIGRA, Gray. 
Pacific Eider. 
Somateria V-nigra, Gray, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1855, 212; pi. evii. Kotzbue Sound, NW. coast of Am. 
Sp. Ch. —Similar to S. mollissima, but larger, and with a Y-shaped black mark on chin, as in S. spectabilis. The white longitu¬ 
dinal mark on the top of the head narrower than in mollissima ; the black less rounded posteriorly. The bill of male is orange 
yellow, with white nail; of female dusky green. Feet brownish yellow. 
Ildb .—Kotzbue Sound, NW. coast of America. 
The above description, (taken from G. R. Gray,) refers to a well marked species which 
appears to replace the common eider on our northwest coast. It is essentially an eider, in 
all respects, with the black Y-shaped marks on the chin seen in the king duck. The female 
is brown, as in the eider. 
SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS, Leach. 
King Eider. 
Anas spectabilis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 195.— Gmelin, I, 567. 
Somateria spectabilis, Leach, Flem. Philos. Zool. 1822?— Swains. F. Bor. Am. 11,3 1831,447.— Bon. List. 1838.— 
Eyton, Mon. Anat. 1838, 148.— Brandt, Mem. Ac. St. Pet. Sc. Nat. vi, Ser. VI, 1849, 5. 
Fuligula ( Somateria ) spectabilis, Bonap. Syn. 1828, 389.— Nuttall, Man. II, 1834, 414. 
Fuligula spectabilis, Aun. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 523; pi. 276.— Ib. Syn. 1839.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 347 _ 
pi. 404. 
King Duck, Pennant, II, 554. 
Sp. Ch. —Body and wings black; the portion anterior to the shoulder joint, interscapular region in part, most of neck and 
throat, white; the jugulum with a creamy tinge. A narrow border to the frontal processes of the bill and their interspace. 
Small space round the eye and a Y-shaped mark on the chin black. Top of head and nape bluish ash, slightly spotted with 
black. Midddle wing coverts, tips of secondaries, axillars, and most of under surface of wing, with a patch on each side of the 
rump, white. Sides of head glossed with transparent emerald green. 
The scapulars have the black tinged with slate. 
Length, 21.50; wing, 10,70; tarsus, 1.86; commissure, 2.53. 
Ilab. —Arctic regions of northern hemisphere. Pacific coast. ? 
I have not at band the female of either this species or the eider. They differ in being chiefly 
brown. 
The tertials in this species are bent outwards, so that the points project beyond the edge of 
the wing, about the middle of the outer primary. The frontal process of the bill is dilated and 
nearly quadrilateral; it is bent abruptly upwards, so as to be out of line with the culmen. The 
nostrils are large, oval, and open. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
Sex. 
Locality. 
Whence obtained. 
No. 
1973 
$ 
North Atlantic_ 
S. F. Baird_ 
