Rare in Massachusetts during winter. Breeds from Labrador to the Arctic Seas.
Fuligula spectabilis, Bonap. Syn. p. 389.
Somateria spectabilis, King Duck, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 447.
King Duck, Fuligula spectabilis, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 414.
King Duck, Fuligula spectabilis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 523.
406. 11. Fuligula mollissima, Linn. Eider Duck.
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.
407. 12. Fuligula Clangula, Linn. Golden-eye Duck.