. An illustrated manual of British birds . very early spring: bill greenish ; down its centrehalfway to the nostrils is a wedge of feathers which, like those of thesides of the bill, forehead and crown, are black ; the latter bisectedby a white line running to the pale green nape, and divided byanother white line from a green patch, on each side of the neck ;cheeks, back, smaller and median wing-coverts white; long sickle-shaped secondaries yellowish-white; quills, rump and tail nearlyblack, with a patch of white on each side of the latter ; breast rosy-buff; abdomen black; legs and toes dull
. An illustrated manual of British birds . very early spring: bill greenish ; down its centrehalfway to the nostrils is a wedge of feathers which, like those of thesides of the bill, forehead and crown, are black ; the latter bisectedby a white line running to the pale green nape, and divided byanother white line from a green patch, on each side of the neck ;cheeks, back, smaller and median wing-coverts white; long sickle-shaped secondaries yellowish-white; quills, rump and tail nearlyblack, with a patch of white on each side of the latter ; breast rosy-buff; abdomen black; legs and toes dull green. In summer thewhite feathers are shed, and the back becomes nearly black, but theplumage of the female is not assumed. Length 25 in.; wing 11 female is chiefly pale rufous-brown, with darker bars—similarto, but far less ruddy than the female of the King Eider; quills andtail-feathers dull black. The front figure in the wood-cut represents an old male, and animmature bird of the same sex is in the background. ANATID.^-:. 449. THE KING-EIDER. SOMATERIA SPECTAIULIS. The King-Eider is an inhabitant of the Arctic regions, and itsvisits to our coasts are extremely rare, though naturally more fre-quent in the north than in the south. Mr. J. H. Gurney jun. has afemale which was purchased—freshly killed—in Leadcnhall INIarketby the late Mr. Gatcombe, who had previously seen an immaturebird at Plymouth ; and one was killed at Bridlington in Yorkshirein August 1850. At the Fame Islands tvvo—apparently a pair—were observed throughout the summer of 1873, an adult male beingsecured there in the following November; another pair are said tohave been seen in May 18S0 ; Mr. H. M. Wallis informs me thathe had a good view of an old drake at the end of May 1882 ; andlastly, a mature male was shot on April 25th 1885, off thatpeculiarly attractive group of islands. In Scotland birds havebeen obtained or identified by competent observers off Hadding-tonshire, the Isle of May in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidillustra, booksubjectbirds
