ORNITHOLOGICAL OBSERVATION IN ICELAND. 311 



tion between the two is well seen, as both stand on the ledge, the 

 male being a handsomer little fellow, whilst the female has a 

 more imposing appearance. This has been the female bird's 

 exeat of the day, and it is to be hoped that twenty-eight minutes 

 has enabled her to procure a meal, if only a "nuncheon." 



At 5.80 I go out, to brace the tent, again, the wind con- 

 tinuing, and, as before, when I started for a walk, the male 

 flies up from somewhere near, with his little twittering squeak. 

 And now, twice again, in going and returning from another 

 one, I have put him up from somewhere within the gorge, 

 or in its immediate precincts. It is his habit, therefore, 

 when not engaged in procuring food, to keep on guard in the 

 neighbourhood of the nest, and, as has been seen, the pair (and 

 I have no doubt either of them alone) are capable of molesting 

 even Eagle3, should they encroach upon their preserve. 



June 13th. — From some time after 7 a.m. the female was on 

 the nest, but left it, without my perceiving her, before 8. Just 

 before (as also several times during the earlier morning), I had 

 heard the cry of the male, and have no doubt that, as usual, he 

 was the occasion of her going. At a few minutes before 8, she 

 returned, and stayed on the nest till 10.30 a.m., when she was 

 again called off, as I think it may be correctly termed, by the 

 male, who, as usual, uttered his cry. At 10.30 he again flew in, 

 with it, and the female again left the nest. I could not ascertain 

 whether she received anything from him, this time, and still less 

 am I able to say if she did the time before ; but this, whether 

 disappointed or not, is always what she seems to expect. After 

 some five or ten minutes, the male flew to the ledge, but left it 

 again, without going on to the eggs. He returned in a few 

 moments and covered them, but almost immediately went off 

 again, and had hardly been gone a moment when the female 

 flew in and took his place — he must, I think, have seen her 

 coming. At 12, being called for by Sigurdsson, I struck my 

 tent, and, leaving the bird still on the nest, departed for " fresh 

 woods and pastures new " — there are woods in Iceland, though 

 dwarf ones. 



From the foregoing notes it would appear that, as with the 

 Sparrow Hawk, there is a considerable differentiation between 

 the domestic duties of the male and female Merlin, even during 



