Nest.—Is nicely woven of weeds and grasses and lined with down placed on the ground in crevices of rocks or sometimes in the hollow of a tree. 5 to 8 greenish buff eggs (2.30 × 1.60).
Range.—Northern North America, breeding from Alaska to the central part of California among the mountain streams.
PACIFIC EIDER. 161. Somateria v-nigra. 23 inches.
This bird is in plumage like the Northern Eider, except that it has a black V-shaped mark on the throat. They nest sparingly on the Aleutian Islands, but in great numbers farther north.
Nest.—They make their nests of seaweed and grass, warmly lining same with down from their breasts. 6 to 8 eggs (3.00 × 2.00).
STELLER EIDER. 157. Polysticta stelleri. 18 inches.
A very beautiful species; head white, washed with greenish on the forehead and nape; chin, throat, neck, back, tail and crissum, black; under parts chestnut; wing coverts white, the long scapulars black and white.
Nest.—Are made of grasses and heavily lined with down. It breeds on the rocky coast and islands of Bering Sea. The six to nine eggs are pale olive green in color (2.25 × 1.60).
Range.—Arctic regions in America, chiefly on the Aleutian Islands and northwest coast of Alaska.
SPECTACLED EIDER. 158. Arctonetta fischeri. 21 inches.
This species is black on the under parts and mostly white above. The head is largely washed with sea green, leaving a large patch of white, narrowly bordered with black around each eye, thus resembling a pair of spectacles and giving it the name it has.
Nest.—Is made of seaweed, grass and lined with down from their breast; they are placed upon the ground under overhanging stones or clumps of grass. 5 to 9 eggs (2.70 × 1.85).
KING EIDER. 162. Somateria spectabilis. 23 inches.
This species is very different from any of the preceding, the crown being of an ashy blue, and the long scapulars black in place of the white of the others. It also has a broad V-shaped mark on the throat and a black crescent between the eye and bill. Like all of the other Eiders the females are mottled brown and black, the different species being very difficult to separate.
Nest.—These are usually a depression in the ground lined with the down from the breast, and contain from 6 to 10 eggs of a greenish color (3.00 × 2.00).