MANU AL OF THE BIRDS OF ICELAN D r n N AB E i ur h P inte d T. a d A S d nb g : b y . CO T LE F OR A I D D O L A S D V U G . N N SI PKIN ARS A A I N LO DO M , M H LL , H M LTO , K N AN CO E T D . LTD . CA BRI G AC I AN AN B W S M D E M M LL D O E . G AS G W J A S M L EH OS E AN S NS L O ME AC D O . M A N U A L OF THE BI RD S OF I CELAND F Z . E RY . SLATER M A . S H N H , . , ’ MEMBER O F THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOG ISTS UNION AN R C R OF RN AUG N R AN S D E TO THO H H , O TH T E DI NBURGH V D G DA ID OU LAS, CASTLE STREET 1 90 1 C O N T E N T S T U TI IN ROD C ON , C OS AS T TH A T I L E SE ON AC OF E L H NG , I TS A I R U I ATI H N ON ICEL ND C P ON NC ON , I B IO P H B L GRA Y , BI RDS OF ICELAND " INDE , I L L U S T R A T I O N S ’ A COM PARISON OF THE HEADS OF BARROW S G OLDEN EYE AND COMM G E YE a fte r 3. Dr a w in b ON OLDEN , g y W . FR OHAWK . F r ontis iece F , p ’ E I R EK S J OKU LL FROM THE A R NA RVATNS H EI OI f ro m a , , h D U M To a e 9 to r h b . OR o a . c a e 9 P g p y H N G E, f p g ST O TH G R T O T R DIV R r om a. hoto NE F E EA N R HE N E , f P r a hb D M OR To a ce a e 1 3 3 g p y H . N . UG E , f p g MAP E nd o vol ume OF ICELAND , f I N T R O D U C T I O N I HAVE been studying the Birds of I ce land for some t v sinc e h fif een years , e er my first visit to t at most 1 8 8 5 interesting country in , and have often felt the of on want , at first especially , a handy manual the S But ubject . there is no such thing in the English language . As the available information is scattered , largely in D t n driblets , amongst Icelandic , anish , German , La i , E and nglish books and periodicals , it has occurred to me that it may be a convenience to English - spe aking ornithologists to have this information revised and m condensed in a handy for . a s of - v And , too , many my fellow countrymen isit fi sh Iceland to , geologise, botanise , study their health , or do nothing in particular- according to their various of — ways taking life and a good many of them , from my experience of them on board ship , seem inclined to take more or less interest in the birds they meet with there , it is possible that a handy manual on the subject may , in their case also , supply what is at present a want . ’ I have not been considering the mere collector, and ha ve no Wish to minister to his insatiable appetite for V1] viii BIRDS OF ICELAND the acquisition o f as many egg - shells of rare birds as v possible . If he makes his li ing by dealing in such his h things , it is unfair to condemn Objects altoget er ; f d but the worst of enders in this direction , I am afrai , - - of are more or less w ell to do amateurs . In the case the rarer species , therefore , I have purposely been as i n vague as possible in ment oni g localities . The Great — Auk is gone for ever I do not think that the mere — collector had very much to do with that but there are two or three other species , the extinction of which off as breeding birds in Iceland does not seem very far . Amongst these are the Grey Phalarope, the Black L Auk tailed Godwit, and the ittle ; and the Iceland n Falcon also is rapidly decreasing in umbers . In these and other cases , this is owing to the wholesale taking e of their eggs , which the Close Season law in Ic land does not regulate in any way . There is a great deal of literature bearing on the Snorr o Stur l e son who his subject . It begins with , , with ‘ ’ Thor d sson u P nephew Olaf , wrote the Yo nger , or rose ’ 1 5 0 5 a 1 1 2 0 . Edd , begun about and finished about It is chiefly mythological , but contains , amongst other of - of the things , a tolerably complete list bird names of us e period . Most the names are those in e in Ic land d m to ay , but there are a good any birds mentioned u - the Kite , C ckoo , Stork , Sparrow hawk) which have so never been seen in the country, that, though valu t the n E d not able e ymologically , You ger d a does throw much light upon Ic e l a ndic ornithology a s we under stand the term . Ab out the middle Of the eighteenth INTRODUCTION century a number of z oOl ogic a l works appeared in rapid — ’ ’ succession Johann And e r son s Na chmchten ’ Horrebow s Tilfofla d elig e Efter r etninger Brun ’ ’ nich s Or nithologia Bor ea lis ( 1 7 Ol a fs s on and Pals ’ ’ ' son s Raise Clavius Oeconomzsic Reg/86 ’ and Mohr s F or sog But ornithology as an a exact science began in Icel nd with Friedrich ‘Faber, still deservedly venerated in the country as Fugle ’ P r d mus . o r o o n Faber His is a careful and , the whole , reliable compendium , containing a great deal of de tailed information on birds from his own personal w 1 8 2 2 kno ledge, and was published in , It (and the following) should be studied by every one w ho desires h to master t e subject . Of the numerous works since produced which bear upon it I wish to recommend ’ ’ Preyer and Zirkel s Reese Shepherd s Nor th West Peninsu la a nd not P , last but least , rofessor ’ ’ N n - B I cela nd . ewton s Appendix to ari g Gould s , etc v v which I , personally , ha e found extremely alu v able and suggestive . Of all the papers in the arious periodicals , those specially useful will be found to be indicated by an asterisk in the list given on pages xix . l to sin l e a xxiii . I should like , however , g out for speci l ‘ He r ra Be ne d ikt G rOnd a l v n mention those by , as ha i g f been o great service to me . There are a good many works on Ic e l a nd which treat more or less of ornitho logy (as of everything else one can think of) without our materially adding to knowledge of it, though they do provide us with a variety of fancy problems . - v As to Guide books , there is a ery fair one by x BIRDS OF ICELAND w a s Mr . W . G. Lock . It is undated , but published , I a s believe , early in the eighties . As far topography and outfit are concerned , it is very good , but I must warn the intending visitor against placing too implicit a reliance upon the amount of sport which it will — otherwise induce him to expect everywhere and also against considering it a competent ornithological guide . — Tw o birds are mentioned (with Latin names too the — Great Snipe a nd Bean Goose of which the former has never even been suggested by any ornithologist as d ha s occurring in Icelan , and the latter never been l ha s satisfactori y ascertained to do so . And Mr. Lock s o v been completely misled by the ariations , seasonal of P and sexual , in the plumage the Rock tarmigan (the to only wild Gallinaceous bird in Iceland) as assert , quite erroneously, that the Willow Grouse and Common P v of tarmigan are to be found there , besides a ariety f i hybrid forms . This sort o statement s apt to discount — the value ofany book seriously and it would have been quite easy for the writer to find out what competent w ornithologists had ritten . Another and much slighter u d - in g i e book has since appeared , which all these mis - statements are copied and stereotyped . The bird lore ’ in Sir Richard Burton s Ultl ma Thu le is also untrust f worthy . That writer goes astray ou the subject o l o . the Rock Ptarmigan too ( v i p . and probably - led the writers of the guide books off the road . He ’ also suggests Bewic k s S wan a s an Icelandic bird (ii .