The Eider Duck (Somateria mollissima mollissima)

Abstract

THE eider duck, because of the handsome and A striking plumage of the drake, is a familiar object off the coasts of Britain. It is more numerous in Scottish than in English waters, but is plentiful throughout the year off the coast of Northumbria, where the eider is known as St. Cuthbert's duck, because of the tradition in the district that St. Cuthbert, who had his cell on one of the Fame Islands, tamed the eiders of old.