BIEDS OF ICELAND 81 



condition at the edge of one of the meres near the 

 house late in the previous autumn (of 1899). The 

 farmer tried to feed it, but without success, not 

 knowing the proper food, and on its death wisely 

 preserved the skin. 



^ Fulica atra, Linn. Coot. 



Native name : ' Blesond ' (i.e. the duck with a white 

 ' blaze ' on its forehead). 



An occasional wanderer from Europe, chiefly to the 

 south-west. Grondal thinks that it has occurred more 

 frequently of late years. It seems to be generally met 

 with in late summer and autumn (the season of the 

 southward, not the northward, migration, by the way!). 

 The first record is Faber's (Prodromtos, page 63) of a 

 pair shot in the late autumn of 1819 near Eeykjavik. 

 The Coot is rare in the north, but I have seen several 

 skins there at different times. It has never been 

 known to breed in Iceland. It seems hardly necessary 

 to give a description of so well known a bird ; its sooty- 

 grey plumage, large lobed feet, and white blaze on 

 the forehead will prevent the possibility of mistake. 



.^gialitis hiaticula (Linn.). 

 Ringed Plover. 



Native name : ' Sand-loa. 



A summer visitor, widely distributed and not un- 

 cuuimon, arriving at the end of April and staying till 



