53



Mr. C. Barnby Smith,



were still unhatched when I had to leave the country, and all I

could do was to leave behind many injunctions as to feeding,,

etc. What happened is best told in the words of the farmer

contained in a letter received by me this Autumn


“ Now about the Harlequin chicken rearing. It was quite ,

“ a failure. The chickens came out of the eggs bonnie and lively

“but we could not get them to eat anything. We tried every

“kind of food, worms, etc., and we tried to put the food in a

“ water dish which we put out for them which they were swim-

“ ing in, all in vain. We took them out to the Spring close by

“ with the hen and were watching them there but it did not seem

“ to do them any good, they were only wanting the food from the

“ hen, always stretching their bills up to the hen. No doubt the

“ Harlequin Duck feeds the chickens with the food they get in or j

“ under the water, but what kind of food it is I cannot say. I

“ am sorry to say that after four days they were all dead.”


I may mention that the writer of this letter (who is an

observer of nature) told me that Harlequin Ducks sit about five

weeks, and when I pressed him to diminish the time he said that

at any rate they sat much longer than any other duck he knew.


Since the new Game Laws came into operation in Iceland

Harlequin Ducks have rapidly increased and are now very

common on the fast running rivers in the North. As they are

very tame in the breeding season they present a most charming

sight.


In the immediate vicinity of Lake Myvatn ducks of all

kinds simply swarm. The ducks most in evidence being the

“ Long-tails,” but Scoters, Pintails, Golden-eyes, Teal, Mallard,

Wigeon, Scaups, and other varieties are in abundance. Whether

or not the eggs of the rarer sorts could be got over and hatched

in this country I do not know. It might be worth a trial next

year if a steamer were coming direct from the North at the right

season.


I was informed by the owner of a well known “ Eider Duck

farm ” that the broods of Eider Ducks often get hopelessly mixed,

and that one old bird will attempt to look after twenty or thirty

young ones. The nests of the Eiders are exceedingly thick in

favourite spots near the coast, but Falcons and other enemies are



