410 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the cliffs, and fell a tremendous depth below, by the side of the falls. 

 I descended the cliff in my eagerness to recover the prizes, until I was 

 actually under the falls, and fully appreciated the meaning of the name 

 Skjalfandafljot — "shivering or trembling" — and having reference to 

 the shaking of the cliffs, by reason of the great body of water falling 

 over. All my efforts were fruitless ; the little birds had either fallen 

 into the raging rapids, and been carried away, or into holes between 

 the masses of lava. Afterwards I shot another splendid gander — 

 judging by his size — but found it utterly impossible to recover his 

 body, and saw it eventually carried away by the rapids. However, I 

 had now thrown much more light on the problem, and, after fondly 

 gazing at my two victims, I gave orders for the return with all speed 

 to a farm where we could get rest and food. This we reached about 

 10 p.m., after fasting fourteen hours. 



I made exhaustive inquiries on my return down the valley, and was 

 most emphatically assured that the birds I had procured were the only 

 kind of Wild Geese which breed in that part of Iceland, and that there 

 was no other breeding haunt known in the whole North of Iceland than 

 that I had visited, and, some said, in the ivhole of Iceland. I carefully 

 explained the difference in the colour of the bill between A. cinereus 

 and A. segetiim. 



White-feonted Goose, A. albij'rons. (Gragoes.)— I did not meet 

 with this bird, but it is well known to the farmers down the valley of 

 the Skjalfandafljot, who told me that it was met with only resting 

 during migration, and most emphatically assured me that it had never 

 been known to breed in Iceland. This I heard first from the farmer at 

 the breeding haunt of A. cinereus, and it was confirmed by others lower 

 down the valley. 



Whooper Swan, Cygmismusiciis. (Alft.) — Saw four of these birds at 

 Myvatn, but did not procure any specimens. It appears to be rare as 

 a breeding species in the North. 



Mallakd, Anas boscas. (Stokkond.) — Fairly plentiful in some dis- 

 tricts. I procured female and downy young only. 



Gadwall, a. strepera. (" Litla graond.") — This is another bird 

 surrounded by much confusion and uncertainty. Grondal does not 

 know the bird, and most of the Icelanders with whom I came in contact 

 did not recognize it. I think they confuse it with the female Mallard. 

 Slater, during his fifteen years' experience, only saw the bird once, and 

 then not with much certainty. I saw the adult female on at least four 

 different occasions, but there was a succession of vexatious incidents, 

 which are calculated to cause one to think of unparliamentary lan- 

 guage, if not to use it, and which prevented me securing a specimen. 



