66 BIRDS OF ICELAND 



at its top (which bends the wrong way for a knee) 

 corresponds anatomically to the human ankle. The 

 tarsus is formed by a fusing together of what are in 

 man the second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones. 



-/- Harelda glacialis (Linn.). 

 Long-tailed Duck. 



Native names: 'Havella' (pron. 'Howedtla'), Tovella' 

 (variant ' foella'). The meaning of these names is 

 obscure, and they are probably onomatopoetic — 

 attempts to describe the bird's note. 



A resident and common everywhere, breeding on 

 mountain lakes and tarns and by lowland rivers, 

 frequenting the sea all round the coasts in winter. 

 Readers are warned against shooting it for dinner, 

 unless they can get nothing else. 



The nest is placed amongst dwarf bushes or sedge 

 on an islet, or amongst the vegetation clothing the 

 shores of a fresh- water lake, tarn, or river. It is made 

 of a little grass with dead willow leaves, and is sub- 

 sequently lined thickly with a very soft down, almost 

 equal to that of the Eider. The eggs, six to nine in 

 number, are small for the size of the bird, but vary con- 

 siderably, even in the same clutch, and measure from 

 a shade under 2 inches in length to nearly 2\ inches. 

 Their colour varies also from greenish drab to pure drab. 



The drake is easy to distinguish from any other bird, 

 although no other duck varies so much in plumage. 

 The summer and winter dresses are quite different, and 



