EIDER-DUCK

The species of duck tribe so called is one of the largest and most valuable of the Anatidas, and, from certain modifications of the beak and sternum, constitutes the type of a subgenus, called So mater i a. The common eider {So mater i a moUi ima) frequents in great numbers the Orkneys, He brides, and Shetland isles. It i3 defended from the cold of the dreary northern coasts by the development of an unusual quantity of the finest down beneath its dense exterior plumage, which is equally well adapted to form an impenetrable barrier to the wet. The down of the eider constitutes its chief value, as it combines with its peculiar softne , finene , and lightne so great a degree of elasticity that the quantity of this material which might be compre ed and concealed between two hands will serve to stuff a coverlet. As the female plucks from her own body a quantity of her finest down to line her nest, the Orcadians avail themselves of this instinct, and take an early opportunity to rob the nest of both eggs and down. She then begins to lay afresh, and envelops her eggs with another layer of down; and if this be removed, the male is said to contribute hie own down when the female can afford no more. Lastly, when the brood of ducklings is hatched, the nest is again visited and the down removed. Thus a considerable quantity of the valuable material furnished by the eider-duck is obtained independently of that which is plucked from the slaughtered birds. Besides the clown and eggs, th* islanders turn the skins and flesh of the eiders to profit; while these bird3 cost them no expense, as they feed enocean. tirelyon sea-weed and other natural productions of the [s. 401]