LETM5 



GEESE AND GULLS IN ICELAND. 

 To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — As reported by me in the Field a. few weeks ago, in reference 

 to the hybridization of Grey Lag and domestic Geese, I saw a large 

 number of Grey Lag-Geese (Anser anser) at Heradsfloi on the north- 

 east coast of Iceland on August 3rd, 1911. 



The surf prevented my landing, and the high beach obstructed 

 the view, but upwards of one hundred Grey Lags ran along the beach 

 in front of my launch. They were unable to fly, and when hard pressed 

 some disappeared over the bank and others took to the sea. I shot 

 one of these in order to see the condition of the flight-feathers. 



I take this opportunity of saying that I saw a Black-headed Gull 



{Larus ridihnndris) on the north coast of Iceland, a few days earlier, 



and was also shown one in the possession of the Danish Consul at 



Akureyri which he had shot a few days before my arrival. As the 



Lesser Black-backed Gull {L. fusci(s) appeal's to be considered a rare 



bird, and only to have been reported once, it may be of interest to 



mention that I saw these birds on the East coast both in 1910 



and 1911. M. Bedford. 



THE GEESE OF ICELAND. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 

 Sirs, — I am obliged to the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain for his editorial 

 note to my letter {supra, pp. 286-7), but I am afraid, interesting though 

 his remarks are, they do not tend to get us much forwarder. When 

 speaking of the " down " I should perhaps have said " nest " for 

 I naturally included " feathers " in my use of the word " down." 

 I gather from Mr. Jourdain's remarks that he can readily find differen- 

 tiating characters between the " nests " of Anser hrachyrhynchus and 

 Anser f. fabalis when comparing " nests " which are authentically 

 known to belong to these two species respectively — by authentic 

 I take it Mr. Jourdain refers to cases in which the parent bird was 

 shot from the nest or identified in some other equally satisfactory 

 way, and in which no shadow of doubt could creep in. If this be so, 

 then I take it Mr. Jourdain should, by means of these differentiating 

 characters, be able, at once, to identify any " nests " of these two 

 species of goose in which no authentic record of the bird is known. 

 Surely Mr. Jourdain is somewhat unhappy in speaking of " flank - 

 feathers " ! ! All the feathers I have seen in " nests " have been much 

 smaller than any flank-feather, and appear to me to be plucked, 



