132 Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Notices, ^c. 



the praise which you have been kind enough to bestow on them 

 (Ibis, 1863, p. 465). Although I had long been collecting ma- 

 terials for a paper on the subject, I found myself called upon to 

 complete it sooner than I expected ; and being thus pressed for 

 time, I unfortunately omitted at the last to apply in various 

 quarters for the information which alone could render it what 

 you are pleased to term "an exhaustive resume of the present 

 state of our knowledge." Permit me, therefore, through the 

 medium of your Journal, to make some additions to the list of 

 Icelandic Birds. 



In the first place let me mention that Mr. G. G. Fowler in- 

 forms me that, in 1862, he shot a female Gadwall {Anas strepera) 

 at My vatn as she rose from her eggs, two in number ; and, the 

 day after, he killed a fine drake near the same spot. I also learn 

 from Mr. Proctor that he has once or twice received skins of this 

 bird direct from Iceland. As the testimony in each case is in- 

 dubitable, the species must no longer be subject to suspicion. 



Next, I am glad to be able to speak with greater confidence 

 respecting the species of large Geese which occur in Iceland. 

 Mr. Fowler has kindly sent me the head of one he shot in the 

 north. This is certainly that of Anser ferus. He states that it 

 was with a brood of young, and that he was shown the place 

 where it had hatched. Mr. Proctor also tells me that he has 

 had three or four examples of this species, and as many of the 

 Bean Goose {Anser segetum). But, more than all, he has once 

 or twice received the Pink-footed Goose {Anser hrachyrhjnchus) 

 from Iceland. One of these specimens he lately showed me in 

 the Museum of the University of Durham, and he assured me 

 that with it were sent some eggs, of which it was stated to have 

 been the mother. 



Mr. Proctor further tells me that a single specimen of the 

 Long-eared Owl {Otus vulgaris) has been sent him from Iceland, 

 and that he has once or twice received thence the Pigmy Curlew 

 {Tringa subarquata), on two occasions the Ivory Gull {Pagophila 

 ehurnea), and, once, two examples of the Northern Puffin {Frater- 

 cula glacialis) . The latter, which he believes to have been obtained 

 on the island of Grimsey, are now in Mr.Tristram^s collection. All 

 these four species have been hitherto unrecorded as Icelandic. 



