m
Edderfttgl.
N A T 0 R A L H 1 6 T O R Y of: N O R W A T ,
S E C T - É l
The Wild Puck, .called Edder, iËdder, or contraled by-iEr-
iugl, and by Woptnio, in Mufeo, p. 3^0, Anas plumis mollifli-
mis, is found here along ike coaft, ns well as in Iceland, Groenland,
Faroe *, and elfe where, in great quantities* The feathers
of its breaft, which are known far and near lay the name of Eider-
Pup, make annually a good livelihood tp people in many places.
I think this Bird defer yes an exaéf description, especially as they
are npt known any where elfe than in the North Sea,
In fhape and fixe it keeps a medium betwixt the Goofe and
the Puck, fe that one may, vyith equal reafen, call it a Cnall
Wild Goofe, of a large Wild puck. The Cock on the upper
part is black, mix’d with dark green, which,- about the neck, is
fomething lighter; under the eyes white, mix’d with light green;
the breaft is black} under the belly- and wings it is; of a light
grey ; on the tail, which is but firiall, it is of a dark green and
fhining hue. On Faroe, according to L. Petjes, the cocks are feme-
times white, and, when they are young, are like the hens, which
are fomewhat left than their mates, and are afterwards all over
brown and grey mixt The bill and feet arse of the Goofe kind,
but of a duiky yellowifh colour, and in the hens fbmefhing
darker. They dive under water like Pucks, but much deeper:
they will go to ten or twelve fathom deep, and they live, like
Other Sea-Birds, upon fifli, Ihells, and fea-weeds. In the Winter
they are almoft always on the ocean, and they feek the. coaft in
the Spring in large numbers, to make their nefts in the! clifis,
and bn finall iflands, either among fiones, or among the tufts of
bulhes, and large fea-plants. They lay five, or, at moftfifix
eggs, of a green colour, and as large as a Goofe-«gg, in ihape
femewhat longifh f .
If
* This agrees with what Buchanan wrires, de Rebus Scoticis, Lib. i. pf'theSs&Ifeh
Bird he calls Calca; of which alfo Robert. Ribald, in Hitt. Anitoti,:
g. 21./elates the fanje of dp? Bird m i its feathers. It; is jngf fees - Wore thp j£j»rh*g,
and it is thought that this Bird, along with a great many other Sea-foylsjtgotégther
places in the W inter: but whether they go, according "to the opttuon- o f fome, to
America, I will not determine. Whilft I arn writing of this, a correftondent of
mine at Sundmseer acquaint me, that they have been neverthelpfe fepn there in Winter
©Athe-imt-iflands, in the ocean, Hving upon what they‘find apiong 'thë-ïahd, that the
waves throw up from the bottom. Concerning their jpIjice « f retreat, I can fi^d-no
account to be depended upon,
# -f. Mr. Anderfen fays, in his Defcription of Iceland, p. m. ^44, that they have told
'him that thefê Birds lay-a v3ft many eggs. If a ftick of half an ell’s length be-put
in the middle of the neft, which lometimes is done, (becaufe the eggs are . much
efteemea) the female ftill continues laying her eggs more than iter cuftom, and does
not leave off till the top of _the'ftick is covered, that The may lay upon them;
.1 . H Whereby
N A T 0 ,R. A L H I S T O R Y p f N Q R M A .& 71
;. theu the Bird lays again
but only ,thfee,.and,,in* anotlje-F neftq if thefe are left,; then fhe
lays none more. Four': weeks the mother fits alone on the eggs,
and, the pock.ftand s wa tching underneathii:tbe. .yjra&rfe that if
any hitman creature or beaft of prey approaches, he gives, her
pptke,. by crying huhu» und then ft® <m$ts■ her eggs with mafs
and down, yvhieh ftfe:keeps ready prepared, and comes down to
her mate 09 the wafer j but ho does'net receive her very kindly ; severe mate,
and if her,eggs ar-e,loft by anf apeident, he givesharmanyblows
with which ft© ftiuft takq patiently; and after this -
hp entirely |§fett$ her, and flie js;q®ged to join the flock of her
kind, under the fame difgrace. , jfefewjdays after the ybung ones
am hatch’4-;they 4re taken by the. mother to the fta, and are hot
forfeken even. in the greatßft diftrefe: fhe hasbeen feen, in time
^d^ngetfit^tlkei hetjyoungi ones 09 her back, to fwiip the better
away; when; they? repaid n©S dome After I her. öne óf my eorre*
fpondent? has feen, that a& the Ravens and Crows hunt out for '
thgfe.Bifds fo fijßk; odt their eggs, or eat the young ones,
it has made them femetimed bnild ihalf , a mile 1 farther up fn the
Country, that tfieyTtpght find, a better hidlngdplace for their deft j
gmcf thhhy'wheh the^yburigWes^Are to 09 to the fea with their
mother; fhe-jlays herfelf down, dor thrWto climb on :her back
an^ca^fg^theiif; away.by an even flight.
Tho’ it be nof fuflèred to deftioythefe Birds, on account of
their fine down, but only to other it off from the neft, yet thefEadcr^owa.
are too often kiled by the ineonfiderate ; but the feathers and
down which is plucked off the, dead Birds are not near fo good as
that fhe pulfei-off herfelf from her breaft. This fhe doés the laft
eight days fee fits, to make the young ones a felt and warm bed.
The dead Birds down is greafy, add fubjedt to decay, and is not
near fb light as the down of the neft, when it is qleanfed from
the ftalks ;,ctf herbs, and other mixtures. It is feld, when pure,
fet two rixdollacs per pound, and is a good livelihood to many of
thé people who Évè about the coafts; for it is fo light, warm,
fqft, and ready to fpread itfelf, that two handfuls fqueezed to^
gether i§ enough to fill a down quilt *.
■ That this Edder-down is unwholfome, and particularly, that-
it ^ivésithe epileptic ficknefs,: is contradidled by Tfi. Bartholin,
in Medicina Danor. domeftica, p. 6.5: Néque vanus nonnulforum
whéféby fbe ’peéomej-iquife famt^anä Iow.;‘ ' This account 'fëeïxis ’n^t^riglc, ätep^ding -
to all experience, on this coaft, where-tjiey generally find but BVe," feldom the flyrh.
io.tlje.neft.’
* A covering like a fsather-beä, which they ufe in thadeewi%:'i(liKnÉofsc f ^ 'l n ^ '
blankets. . ' '
rumor