The Shieldrake (Fig. 93) is the most remarkable of all the Duck tribe, not only from its size, but from its beauty, and the elegant variations of its plumage. It is larger and stands higher on its legs than the Common Wild Duck. The plumage is full, soft, and blended; the feathers of the head and upper neck are small and silky. The colours are very brilliant, being of a glossy blackish green on the head and neck, with purplish reflections in some lights; a broad band or ring of white is found on the neck, and lower another of orange-red encircles the fore part of the body. The rest of the under parts are white, with a band of glossy black on the breast and belly; the back white, variegated with black, white, russet, and green. The Shieldrake abounds on the coasts of the Baltic and North Sea; it is also found in America, and on the southern coasts of France, as well as on the edge of the Northern Ocean. The nest is usually placed in some indentation in the sand, the female frequently choosing a Rabbit's hole, which is often situated in sand-banks. The poor Rabbit, thus turned out of its burrow, never ventures to return to it again. THE EIDER DUCK. ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Eider Duck: Montagu. Common Eider: Selby. White-backed Eider: McGillivray. Popular names: St. Cuthbert's Duck, Dunter Goose. LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas mollissima_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Somateria mollissima_: Jenyns, Bonaparte, McGillivray, Selby. The Eider Duck, though remarkable for beauty of plumage, is nevertheless a very clumsy bird. In form it is bulky, depressed, and elliptical, with large, oblong, and compressed head. The plumage is dense and fine; the head-feathers are short, tufted, and rounded, and, blending with the terminal filaments, disunited; the wings diminutive, concave, narrow, and pointed, the tips of which extend to the base of the tail, which is short, round, and slightly decurvated. The Eider Duck is the northern bird which supplies the soft, light, and warm material which is so well known under the name of "eider-down." Its plumage is whitish, but the upper part of the head, its belly, and its tail are black; the side of the head, the throat, and the neck are white, but the hair-like feathers on the back part of the cheeks and nape are of a delicate pale green; the lower part of the neck is cream-coloured. The black parts from their glossiness are conspicuous, while the white look soiled; the head and back are also shaded with a green tint.