BIRDS OF ICELAND 



11 



appearance suffer the extinction which, until 1900, I 

 was inclined to believe had already overtaken it. 



My bird is a male, and, judging from the measure- 

 ments given by Dr. Sharpe in the British Museum 

 Catalogue of Birds (vol. vi, p. 272), Icelandic examples 

 are larger than Taeroese, viz. : — 



The difference in length of bill, in favour of 2\ 

 horcalis, usually relied on as a distinctive feature, is, 

 as shown by Dr. Sharpe and confirmed by my speci- 

 men, non-existent. 



The plumage, as I remarked to my companion the 

 moment we picked the bird up, suggests much more 

 that of T. fumigatus (Temm.) of Japan, than our com- 

 paratively un-barred English wren. I may add that 

 the sternum of the Iceland male is a good deal larger 

 and stouter than that of T. Uicroj^ccus, and, measured 

 underneath from the rostrum to the posterior meta- 

 sternal border, is i-in. longer. The coracoids are some- 

 what longer and stouter also, but the scapulce of the 

 two species show hardly any difference. 



