EIDER DUCK, a bird of the sub-family Fuliguline, or sea ducks, genus Somateria, dis tinguished by the peculiar form and feathering of the bill, and closely allied to the scoter ducks. The several species are confined to the northern regions. The American eider (S. dresseri) and the European eider (S. mollissima) are closely similar species which breed on solitary rocky shores and islands from Maine and the Fame respectively, northward, the former spe cies wintering as far south as the Delaware River. They are most abundant in Labrador, Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland and Nor way, where they are stringently protected by law. Both species breed gregariously and in particular spots their nests are so abundant that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them. Their nests are usually formed of grass, dry sea-weed, etc., lined with a quantity of down which the female plucks from her own breast In this soft bed she lays five eggs, which she covers over with a layer of down; then the natives, who watch her operations, take away both the eggs and the down, and this removal is repeated as often as she lays until the close of the season, when the last lot of eggs is allowed to hatch and the down removed from the nest only after the young have left. The drake does not, as is often stated, furnish any of the down. One female generally furnishes a few ounces of down. This down, from its superior warmth, lightness and elasticity, is preferred by the luxurious to every other article for beds and coverlets; and, from the great demand for it, those districts in Norway, Greenland and Iceland where these birds abound are regarded as the most valuable property and are guarded with the greatest vigilance. Proprietors en
deavor to attract them by supplying artificial nests and otherwise, and when they settle in an island off shore, cattle and herdsmen are removed to allow them to breed undisturbed. The down from dead birds is little valued, hav ing lost its elasticity.
The length of the eider duck is about two feet three inches, extent of the wings three feet, weight from six to seven pounds; the head is large and the bill of singular structure, being three inches in length, forked at the base of the upper mandible in a remarkable manner, run ning high up on the forehead, and having the feathers on each side descending nearly to the nostrils; the whole of the bill is of a dull, yel lowish horn color, somewhat dusky in the mid dle. The male is black beneath, head and back white, with a black crown. The female is red dish drab, spotted with black, with two white bands across the wings. Eiders associate in flocks, diving to great depths shell-fish, which constitute their principal food. They live much on the water, retiring to the shores to rest, particularly on the appearance of an approaching storm. Their flesh is eaten, but tastes strongly of fish. The eggs, however, are esteemed. These and the down are both fre quently obtained at the hazard of life by people let down by ropes from craggy steeps.
Other species are the Pacific eider (S. and the remarkable king eider (S. spectabilis) of high Arctic regions. The now extinct Labrador duck (q.v.) is closely related.