155. Histrionicus histrionicus. 17 inches.
A beautiful and most attractive bird as shown in the illustration. It is not the colors alone that make them so attractive, but the way the colors are placed. The white being in long stripes, crescents or large spots, with black, gray and chestnut. They are usually found only in pairs among the swiftly running streams, or in the winter in small flocks on the coasts.
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).
