58 BIRDS OF ICELAND 



tunities, knows so much about his country's birds; the 

 average Englishman knows a good deal less. 



The drake, as two of its vernacular names seem to 

 imply, has a red head and neck, with a light buff 

 crown ; breast white ; mantle grey pencilled with 

 black ; ' shoulder ' white ; speculum glossy green with 

 black border. Length 18 inches, wing 10|- inches. 

 The female is flecked with liojht brown all over, more 

 buff below ; has the green speculum and also the white 

 shoulder. 



The nest is placed amongst sedges or thick grass 

 or under a willow bush near water, and in it are laid 

 six to ten eggs of a light glossy cream colour, in length 

 2 J inches. I once found a Wigeon's nest with two 

 or three Pintail's eggs in it, and the two birds seemed 

 to be in perfect harmony ; but I suspect that ' ructions ' 

 would ensue when the ducklings appeared. The 

 Wigeon feeds on bog grasses and vegetable matter, 

 and is always good for the table. 



+ [Fuligula ferina (Linn.). Pochard. 



Native name : ? ' RauShofSa-ond ' (parti m). 



Mohr {Forsog, 1781) reports having seen a Pochard 

 in the EyjafjorSr; and on June 20, 1860 (a fruitful 

 year in novelties), a Herr Gehin is related by Preyer 

 to have shot another on the lake at J?ingvellir, in the 

 south, which he (Preyer) subsequently saw (Beise, 

 p. 430). No one has seen this species in Iceland 

 since. 



