VOL. VI.] BIRD-LIFE OF ICELAND. 235 



should have many attractions, and if the visitor fails to 

 get a satisfactory print of a bird like the Raven, which 

 will sweep by within a foot of his head \\ hen the yoimg 

 are threatened, it is certainly not the fault of the bird ! 

 The extremely good knowledge of birds which is possessed 

 by practically every countryman and country-\Aoman is 

 also surprising, when one recalls the astonishing blunders 

 which are made by otherwise well-informed people at 

 home, who have lived all their lives in the country and 

 yet know nothing of its animal-life. 



The local race of the Raven (Corvus corax islandicus 

 Hantzsch) is a finer bird than our British and Continental 

 forms. It is quite common still, especially in the 'Arnes 

 SysIa, where it levies a heavy toll on the eggs of the Red- 

 shanks, Dunlin, Golden Plover, and other birds which 

 breed in great numbers in the flat marshy country 

 between the Olfusa and Thjorsa Rivers.* At the time of 

 our visit (early June) all nests contained well-fledged 

 young, and both parents showed the utmost boldness 

 when the nest was approached, the male often tearing 

 up the turf with his beak in his rage, exactly as I have 

 seen Ravens do at home under similar circumstances. 



The Mealy Redpoll {Carduelis linaria linaria (L.)), 

 though common where there is birch-scrub in the 

 north, is decidedly scarce in the south, and a single 

 bird which appeared among the currant-bushes of a 

 garden on the south coast on June 5th was the only 

 specimen we met with.t 8now-Buntings [Plectro- 

 phenax 7iivalis (L.)j were by no means uncommon, haunt- 

 ing not only the screes and boulder-strewn hills, but also 

 even low marshy ground near the sea, where blocks of 

 lava provided them with suitable nesting-places. The 

 beautiful black-and-white breeding-plumage makes them 



* In writing Icelandic place-nanies (in the absence of Icelandic type), 

 the letter " Thorn," which in appearance closely resembles a P, has 

 been represented by Th. It should be noted that the d in Videy is also 

 a letter not included in our alphabet and is pronounced " dth." 



t The statement that the eggs are white in the Manual (p. 16) must 

 be due to a slip of the pen : they are of course a rather deep blue. 



