872 Messrs. W. E. Clarke and J. Baekhouse — Autumn 



we were informed, had annually nested on a rocky islet 

 safe from intrusion. These birds, disturbed by the firing, 

 flew trumpeting within easy range ; but to have shot them 

 would have been wanton, for there were no means of ob- 

 taining them from the ice-cold water. There were no 

 cygnets on the lake. Had they already departed for the 

 south without parental guidance, or had they fallen victims 

 to the prowling Arctic foxes, with which the neighbourhood 

 abounded? A pair of Great Northern Divers floated and 

 dived in the middle waters, and of these we had to be content 

 with a binocular examination. The only other birds seen 

 during the day were Ravens, and in the valley near to head- 

 quarters a flock of Golden Plover feeding on a stony patch 

 by the river-side. 



A beat over the birch-cover at HallormstaSr, ten miles 

 distant, resulted in a bag of ten Ptarmigan and a few Meadow- 

 Pipits. The Merlin and Raven were again observed, and 

 also a small flight of Redpolls [Linota linaria?), passing over 

 in a southerly direction, their note much resembling that of 

 L. rufescens, The early morning of the ] 9th added ten more 

 ''Rjui)a " to our score, and we might have shot almost any 

 number ; but we had already obtained as many as we could 

 well spare time to skin, and we did not further molest them. 

 Six Ravens, a pair of Golden Plovers, another migratory flock 

 of Redpolls, and a solitary Redwing among the birches com- 

 pleted our list of birds for the day. We were afterwards 

 rather surprised not to have met with the Redwing in some 

 numbers, for friends of ours shooting about tliis date in 

 Northern Iceland found them commonly in the birch-cover 

 in the Fnjoska Dalr, and the species has, indeed, but little 

 choice of breeding-stations in the island. 



The exceptionally fine weather which had hitherto been 

 so much in our favour changed during the early hours of the 

 20th, and heavy rain prevailed during the whole of that day, 

 followed, on the 21st, by a severe gale. At midday, however, 

 the rain, at least, ceased, and a large party of us visited the 

 celebrated waterfall Heugi-foss, or Hanging Fall, situated on 

 the west side of the Lagarfljot, almost oi)posite to Hallorms- 



