Plate CCXLVI. Male and Female.
Male with the bill nearly as long as the head, greyish-yellow, the
upper mandible with a soft tumid substance at the base, extending upon
the forehead, and deeply divided into two narrow rounded lobes, its
whole surface marked with divergent oblique lines; tail much rounded,
of sixteen narrow feathers; the upper part of the head bluish-black,
with the central part white; the hair-like feathers on the upper part
and sides of the neck of a delicate pale green; sides of the head,
throat, and neck white; fore neck at its lower part cream-coloured;
the rest of the lower surface brownish-black, as are the upper
tail-coverts, and the central part of the rump; the rest of the back,
scapulars, smaller wing-coverts, and inner curved secondary quills
white, the scapulars tinged with yellow; secondary coverts and outer
secondaries brownish-black; primaries and tail-coverts greyish-brown.
Female with the bill shorter, pale greyish-green, its tumid basal part
much less and narrower; head and neck all round light brownish-red,
with small lines of brownish-black; lower part of neck all round, the
whole upper surface, the sides and lower tail-coverts light
brownish-red, with transverse brownish-black markings; secondary
quills and coverts greyish-brown, tipped with white; primaries
brownish-black; tail-feathers greyish-brown; breast and abdomen
greyish-brown, obscurely mottled.
_Male_, 25, 42. _Female_, 24, 39.
Breeds in Maine, on the Bay of Fundy, in Labrador, Newfoundland, as
far northward as travellers have proceeded. Common in winter from Nova
Scotia to Massachusetts; rarely seen in New York.
Eider Duck, Anas mollissima, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. viii. p. 122.
Fuligula mollissima, Bonap. Syn. p. 389.
Somateria mollissima, Eider, Swains. &. Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v.
ii. p. 448.
Eider Duck, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 406.
Eider Duck, Fuligula mollissima, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p.
344; v. v. p. 611.
****** Bill much shorter than the head, higher than broad at
the base, narrowed toward the end.