Ramble in Eastern Iceland ^c. 373 



taSr. On the 22nd the weather took a turn for the worse, 

 and the advent of winter proclaimed itself; for snow fell un- 

 ceasingly during the day, reminding us, as well as our feathered 

 friends, that we must soon turn our faces southwards ; and the 

 accompanying fall in the temperature uncomfortably mani- 

 fested itself in our stoveless room. The 23rd being fine but 

 cold, we decided, in spite of the snow now entirely clothing 

 the mountains, to visit again the 'tarns of the Fljotsdals hei'Si. 

 The climb proved a laborious one, the snow lying, as a rule, 

 fifteen inches deep ; but in places drifts of several feet in depth 

 had to be crossed. The snow-hidden streams, however, 

 proved most annoying, a, step into one of them resulting in a 

 tumble. The first birds seen were a party of Snow-Buntings, 

 twittering cheerily and evidently seeking the lower lands. 

 On the ridge we crossed the spoor of a party of birds judged 

 to be Ptarmigan, which we followed up carefully for some 

 distance, keeping a most diligent look out ahead and finally 

 pulling up suddenly within ten yards of five "Rjupa," looking 

 remarkably pretty on the snow. The tracks of the Arctic fox, 

 too, were numerous, bearing out the report that it was a 

 common species in the district. All the smaller tarns proved 

 to be ice-locked, and the Ducks, almost entirely Long-tails, 

 had congregated on the surface of, or were flying around, 

 the larger or Swan-lake, where the margins only were fringed 

 with ice. The Great Northern Divers still floated uncon- 

 cernedly in the middle, but the Swans, not so indifferent 

 to the great change come over the scene since our last 

 visit, had bidden farewell to their summer haunts. On our 

 homeward march w^e fell in with, and secured, a solitary 

 " Ejupa,''^ an old male bird. Although to some extent the day 

 was a little disappointing, yet we were very pleased to have 

 obtained Ptarmigan at a much greater elevation than we had 

 hitherto observed them, viz. 2500 feet : and it is very doubtful 

 if we should have found them at all without the aid of the 

 tell-tale snow. 



Our last two days at Valthjofsta^Sr, the 24th and 25th, 

 were spent in duck-shooting in the marshy meadows in its 

 immediate vicinity, \fhere Mallard, Wigeon, and Teal had 



SER. V. VOL. III. 2d 



