xii BIRDS OF ICELAND 



one of the worst being that some of the out-of-the-way 

 districts apppear to be charted down from memory, or 

 at second hand. If our Royal Geographical Society 

 will continue to publish more accurate surveys of such 

 districts they will be doing good service, and preparing 

 the WW for a really good map in the future. Let me 

 beg them, however, to put Icelandic names in Icelandic. 

 Lock's sketch-map is good, as far as it goes, and he is 

 scrupulously accurate in place-names. 



I cannot myself expect that I have altogether escaped 

 errors; no one, without a very extended residence in 

 the country, could hope to verify all the statements 

 which a book of this kind is expected to contain ; but 

 I can honestly say that I have spared no pains in 

 obtaining as correct information as was possible under 

 the circumstances — and have taken great trouble, 

 especially, over the orthography of the Icelandic 

 names — and can only hope that my modest venture 

 may be as useful to students of the Iceland bird-fauna 

 as I sincerely desire it to be. For the help of visitors 

 to the country who are interested in the subject with- 

 out being technically ornithological, I have given a 

 brief description of the plumage, except in the case of 

 common and universally known birds — and also in the 

 case of some of the Waders, which w^ould require 

 several distinct phases of plumage, each characterised 

 by very minute differences, to be described under each 

 species. I have in such cases referred generally to 

 the breeding dress onl}^ I have also given a rough 

 description, in most cases, of the nest and eggs. These, 



