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Range (Breeds from Labrador northward)

Breeds from Labrador northward; winters southward to Maine. Nest, on the ground, amid coarse herbage and rocks. Eggs, five to eight, pale bluish or greenish, tinged with olive, 2.95 x 2.00. This is the American representative of the Eider Duck of northern Europe, from which it differs only slightly. The highly prized Eider down is taken from the nest of this bird and its allies. As incubation progresses the sitting bird plucks the down from her breast to serve as a nest lining. In Iceland, according to Saunders, the average yield from each nest is about one sixth of a pound. When the females begin to sit the males leave them and, gathering in small flocks, live at sea. 160. Somateria dresseri Sharpe. AMERICAN EIDER. Resembles the preceding in color, but differs in the feathering of the base of the cul- * The Auk, vol. viii, 1891, pp. 201-216. + Ibid., vol. xi, 1894, pp. 4-12.

SEA DUCKS. men. In both species the culmen is divided by a wedge of feathers reaching forward from the forehead. Looked at from the tip of the bill, the base of the culmen is thus V-shaped. In dresseri the arms of the V are very broad and rounded at the ends, while in borealis they are much narrower and generally pointed at the ends. L., 23.00; W., 11.30; Tar., 1.70; B., 2.10.