TIIE EIDER DUCK. 
167 
rate, was from thirty to sixty pounds — a great sum in those 
days. These were the See Guiles, of which we read as 
being so plentifully provided at the great feasts of the 
ancient nobility and bishops of this realm. Although the 
flesh of these birds is not now esteemed a dainty, and they 
are seldom sought after as an article of food, yet in the 
breeding season, where accommodation and protection are 
afforded them, they still regularly resort to the same old 
haunts, which have been occupied by their kind for a long 
time past. This is the case with the flocks which now 
breed at Pallinsburne, in Northumberland, where they are 
accounted of great use in clearing the surrounding lands of 
noxious insects, worms, slugs, &c.” 
THE EIDEK DUCK. ( Anas mollissima.') 
The Eider Duck has been long celebrated in Europe, for 
the abundance and excellence of its down, which, for soft- 
ness, warmth, lightness, and elasticity, surpasses that of all 
other ducks. 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, that three pounds 
of this down may be compressed into a space scarce bigger 
than a man’s fist, yet is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a 
quilt five feet square. 
