Eider Duck

Eider Duck (Somateria), a genus of marine ducks with five species, breeding socially in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The bill is small, with a horny nail at the tip, and extends up on the forehead, where a central line of feathers die-ides it; tail short and pointed, hind too lobed. the tertiaries are long and generally curved outward so as to overlap the primaries. The Common or True Eider Duck (S. mollissima) is abundant in the Arctic circle in both hemispheres, and sometimes bleeds as far south as the Bay of Fundy and the Fern Islands. The male - about two feet long - is -slightly larger than the female, and is also more brilliantly plumaged, especially during the be-eeding season, when the crown of the head is bluish-black, the tail and under surface black, the nape and cheeks siskin-green, the neck and upper surface with a good deal of white, which is replaced by darker hues in the autumn. The young of the year and the females are clothed in rusty be-own, barred and spotted with a darker shade. The bill and feet, greenish. The King Eider or King Duck (S'. spectabilis) is a native of the extreme north of Asia and America, some breeding as far south as Iceland and the Faroes. It occurs also as a rare British visitor. It is about the same size as the Common Eider, which it greatly resembles, but the male has the top of the head grey and the breast flesh-coloured, and there is less white on the back; the bill and feet are rufous brown. These bie-ds are economically important, and both are domesticated in northern regions, the former to a much greater extent than the latter. Their flesh, like that of most sea-birds, is oily, but in the domesticated races this has been to some extent overcome by a mixture of meal with their natural food, which consists of molluscs and crustaceans. The eggs are eaten, and those of the King Duck are of delicate flavour. But it is for their fine grey down, so much used for lining coverlets and quilted garments, that these birds are chiefly valued. Some of it is, of course, used on the spot where it is gathered, as are the skins for underclothing, belt the greater part is sent southward. Iceland and Norway are the chief seats of eider breeding. As soon as the eggs are laid the female plucks the down from her breast to cover them. The nest is then stripped by the collectors, and the bird lays other eggs, which she covers as she did the first, and these, with their covering, are also taken. The third lot, which the male helps to cover, is left, lest the birds should desert the nest. The quantity annually gathered from each nest is, when cleansed, about a quarter of a pound. Down deposited by the female is called "live-down;" that taken from dead birds is of inferior quality, and is known as "dead down."