50 BIRDS OF ICELAND 



Iceland during the centuries appears to have heard of 

 it. Professor Newton mentions that 'Olafsson (1772) 

 and Olavius (1780) speak of swan-hunts while the 

 birds are moulting only. No doubt a flock of swans 

 might be surprised on the ground by a sudden dash of 

 yelling riders and dogs, and so much confused that a 

 young bird or two might be knocked over. But it 

 looks as if some one had been ' filling up ' (to use an 

 expressive Americanism) Jon Stephanoson, Ph.D. 



Bewick's Swan {C. beivicJd, Yarrell) has never been 

 ascertained to visit Iceland — various guide-book state- 

 ments to the contrary notwithstanding. See Brit. Mus. 

 Cat.: Birds, vol. xxvii. p. 31. It is not in the least 

 likely to occur ; the breeding range is Siberian, from 

 Kolguiev eastward. 



Tadorna cornuta (S. G. Gmel). 

 Sheld-Duck. 



Native name : ' Brandgas ' (the Danish ' Brandgaas '). 



Grondal {Shyrsla, p. 49) mentions that one was shot 

 in HafnarfjorSr on 27th January 1894, which is now 

 in the museum. No other specimen is known to have 

 been obtained in Iceland, but there have been several 

 appearances in the Faeroes, and it breeds not uncom- 

 monly along the coasts of Norway. 



