, 1889-11-22

How the Elder Duck Make Its Nest, and
What Becomes of 1t.

"a L.
The wonderfully soft and warm sub
stance which we call eider-down is pro-
duced by the elder duck, an inhabitant
Of the Arctic ocean. 1t is proper to call
these birds inhabitants of the ocean, for
they pass the greater part of their lives
far out at sea, only coming to land for a
little while in spring for the purpose of
laying and Matching their eggs.
They are very awkward on land, but
are wonderful swimmers and divers, de.
scendipg twelve fathoms below the sur
face of the water and remaining sub
merged as long as five minutes at a time.
Their food consists principally of mol
lusks, which they pick up from the bed
of the sea.
Their favorite laying places are certain
small, low islands off the coast of Nor
a which are called "eider-holms."
The. birds visit these islands in pairs,
which present a striking contrast in APP
pearance, the brakes being brilliantly
colored in black, white and green, while
the females are of a dull reddish brown,
matching the color of the scanty vegeta-
ton SO perfectly that even a practiced
hunter can hardly discover them when
they crouch down among the reeds.
On coming ashore the duck proceeds
very deliberately to choose a place for a
nest, while the drake follows and occa-
sionally gives warning of real or fancied
danger. The duck is very hard to suit,
and it is not an unusual thing for her,
after examining all likely spots out Of
doors, to march boldly into a house and
coolly select what she considers a suit
able place for her nest, such as the oven
il 1t happens to be unused at the time.
The human inmates of the house well
come her gladly, supply her with food,
and cheerfully submit to any small in
co%nveniences like the temporary loss of
their oven, for they know that their guest
will pay a good price for her board and
lodging. When the duck has selected a
place she gathers grass and sticks and
builds her nest. Then she plucks the
soft down from her breast and makes a
wonderful mat, which not only covers
the bottom of the nest but rises SO far
above the edge that it can be folded over
the eggs when the duck leaves the nest
in search of food.
When the six or eight eggs are laid
they are seized, together with the valu-
able eider-down mat, by the people of the
house, and the duck goes off in sorrow to
her mate, who awaits her on the shore,
as his courage never rises to such n pitch
as to lead him into the house.
The duck, somewhat wiser than be-
fore, proceeds to build another nest out
of doors, and as her own down feathers
are exhausted she calmly plucks the
brakes breast as bare as her OWL. After
this outrageous treatment he goes off in
disgust and rejoins his companions at
sea. This time the duck is allowed to
hatch her brood without human inter
ference. But whenever she leaves the
nest two or three eggs are liable to be
stolen by some other duck who has a
nest e by. The marauder carefully
folds the down coverlid over the robbed
nest again and carries the stolen eggs to
her own nest. In this way the eggs are
changed about so that a duck may finally
hatch out a brood containing not a single
one of her own offspring. AS soon as
the duckiings are all Matched out, the
mother or foster-mother, if undisturbed,
endeavors to lead her flock to the shore.
This march to the sea is to the duck
lings what teething is to human infants,
the most trying time of their lives,
for they are exposed to the attacks of
birds of prey and other enemies. Usu-
ally the islanders interfere again at this
point, but now their interference benefits
the ducks as well rs themselves. They
gather the down and carry the ducklings
in baskets to IN shore, the old ducks
following them very c~ontentedly.
When the shore is reached the baskets
are emptied into the water. The old
ducks plunge in, and after a good deal
lowed by a flock of ducklings, some of
which she has lever seen before.
The duck does not always make her
first nest in a house, of course, and if the
first nest is not disturbed she will simply
hatch her brood and put to sea with
them, and the drake will not be robbed
of his feathers. But the islanders are
very watchful, and the first nest rarely
escapes, no matter where it is built.
Sometimes the ducks down is sufi-
cient to supply the second nest, and in
this case the drake remains with his
family. This nest is then robbed also, and
the poor duck is forced to begin a third,
with the help of the brakes down feath-
ers. The rule among the eider-down
hunters is to rob every nest until the
brakes feathers, which differ in color
from those of his mate, appear among
the down. When this occurs it is known
that the pair will build no more that
year, and SO the eggs are allowed to
hatch in order to preserve the species.
A single nest will furnish at least an
of down, which is worth on the
spot about twenty-five cents of our
money. As the birds visit the island in
vast numbers the collection and sale of
the down mats is an important source of
income to the inhabitants.-L. B. Fetch
err in New York Home Journal.
The Shah's Cat Show.
A funny incident is related nv an At