BIRDS OF ICELAND 37 



writers have misinterpreted this, and recorded Pelc- 

 canus onocrotalus — the true Pelican — as a straggler 

 to Iceland. Gmelin, Cuvier, etc., only meant to 

 refer to the Shag. 



+- Sula bassana (Linn.). Gannet. 



Native name : ' Siila,' occasionally ' Hafsiila.' 



Eesident and common round the coasts, breeding 

 gregariously in a number of isolated colonies. One 

 is on the Westmann Islands, one on Grimsey, one 

 (I am told) off the north-west peninsula. There 

 is obviously one also on the Fuglasker, off Cape 

 Eeykjanes, for I have watched from a steamer the 

 Gannets laboriously carrying small loads of seaweed 

 to, I think, Eldey. There must also be one in the 

 SkagafjorSr, from the number of birds to be seen 

 there. Not unlikely it is on Drangey, the last strong- 

 hold of Grettir Asmundarsson, the Icelandic Eobin 

 Hood. Also, from the same reasons, I expect there 

 is another colony on, or near, Cape Eeykjanes, the 

 north-east point of Iceland — and, no doubt, others 

 elsewhere. 



The nests are of seaweed and grass, and the Gannet 

 lays one eg^ only, much like that of a Cormorant or 

 Shag, and with the light-bluish shell overlaid with the 

 same kind of chalky deposit, which has the same 

 tendency to get dirty when paddled upon. 



The eggs of the three species have, generally, the 

 followino- measurements : — 



