374 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



Possibly it was a dark specimen of the Icelandic Golden-eye, a 

 bird Avliich I failed to see myself. Mergansers Avere common ; 

 and in the flocks I thonght I saAV a few Goosanders. Two 

 pairs of Horned Grebes^ and numerous Northern and E-ed- 

 throated Divers complete my list. I saw one young one of 

 the last S2)ecies. There being no trees or bushes whatever 

 where we were^ we had no chance of seeing the Redwing 

 Mealy Redpoll^ or Northern Wren. One curious circum- 

 stance I noticed was a male Scaup keeping company with a 

 female Long-tail; but whether they had bred together was 

 more than there was evidence to show. The Arctic Terns, 

 of which we saw many eggs, were very bold, and one stru^ck 

 me hard with its bill. A great panic in their ranks one day 

 led me to notice an Iceland Talcon flying along. Our 

 friends Messrs. H. Tollemache and A. Hay Gordon, who 

 went to the Laxa river, found the Iceland Golden-eye pretty 

 numerous. Golden Plovers, well stewed, a young wild Duck 

 and an old one, and a young Pintail, formed welcome addi- 

 tions to our diet of preserved meat &c. ; but a Whimbrel 

 proved tough and inedible. We were much struck by the 

 height at which the Northern Divers flew. Frequently we 

 should have failed to see them but for their rattling kak-kak- 

 kak, resembling the noise which Herons make sometimes. 

 The wild trumpet-like laugh of the Long-tailed Ducks was 

 very striking. It is just like a man imitating a bugle-call, 

 and is the last sound one expects a Duck to make. The 

 favourite note of the Red-throated Diver is a sort of heugh, 

 like a horse sneezing. Altogether, though not rich in species, 

 Iceland is a splendid country wherein to study the habits of 

 Snipes, Golden Plovers, Dunlins, Swans, Ducks, Divers, &c., 

 which rarely, if ever, are to be found breeding near one's 

 home in England. What with Swans, Richardson's Skuas, 

 Divers, and Long-tailed Ducks, the variety of strange cries 

 is very rich. 



I would only add that, if the small Dunlin is really pale in 

 colour Avhen the large Dunlin is red, then there is a hitherto 

 unnoticed difference between the races. 



Yours &c., 

 >■ "■ —' " ' ■ ■ »— ^ ' Clifton. 



