KlW EIDEK.
SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS (Linn.).
Anas spectabilis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 195 (1766) ; Naum. xii.
p. 285.
Somateria spectabilis, Macg. v. p. 158 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 417 ;
Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 463 ; Dresser, vi. p. 643.
Canard à tête grise, French ; Pracht-Ente, Kônigs-Ente,
German.
This handsome bird is a rare visitor to the British
Islands, and according to Mr. H. Saunders (4th ed. of
‘ Yarrell,’ vol. iv.) many of the recorded captures and
observations of this species on various parts of our
coasts are more than doubtful. From the authority
just referred to I gather that a specimen in the Museum
at Boulogne is apparently the most southern of any
King Eider hitherto recorded in Europe. In Iceland it
is rare, it is an irregular visitant to the Færoes, and
occurs on the northern coast of Norway every winter.
It is doubtful if it breeds on Spitsbergen, where it has
been observed ; but it does nest on Novaya Zemlya, on
the Kanin Peninsula, on the Yalmal Peninsula, between
the Kara Sea and the Ob, and along the Arctic shores