g i D a i a a s a f i . v - H n ® m .
SOMA T E E IA Y- JFIGRA.
PACIFIC EIDER.
SOMATERIA Y-NIGRA. G. R. Gray. Proc. Zool. Soc. (1855.) p . 211. p i. CVII.—Lawr. B. of N. Am. p. 810.
This new form of Eider Duck was first described by Gray, in the proceedings of the London Zoological Society for 1855, from
specimens obtained by Mr. Adams during the voyage of EL M. ship Enterprise in the North Pacific Ocean. Although somewhat similar
to the eommon species (S. Moffissinta), it nevertheless has characters sufficiently different and conspicuous to enable it to be distinguished
from its ally without difficulty. A angle specimen was first added to the collection in the British Museum in '1851, procured at Kotzebue
Sound by H. M. S. Herald.
Examples of this bird were obtained by the collectors attached to the overland telegraphic expedition, in the territory lately known
as Russian America, and sent to the Smithsonian Institution. It appears to represent the S. Mollissima on the Pacific coast, and to be
abundant in the districts it inhabits. The male has the upper part of the head, rump, and under parts, and two narrow, long lines,
commencing together near the base of the lower mandible, and extending on the sides of the throat, shaped like an inverted Y, jet black.
Occiput and nape deep green. Primaries and tail brownish black. Cheeks; throat, upper part of breast, back, secondaries, and a spot on
the side near the base of the tail, white. Bill, tarsi and feet yellow. •
Female.—General color rich brown, each feather tipped with blackish-brown. Feet and bill blackish.