76 GUIDE TO ICELAND. fljot and that of the Jokulsa, falling into the Axarfjorftr, and on Lj6savatn and the Svartarvatn; hut he is informed they are frequently seen in large flocks on the Fislcivotn, on the Arnarvatn- shev&i in the north-west, and on the Lagarfijit, in the east. Swans are far more common than geese, and are frequently seen early in August on all the larger lakes: the author once shot two on Myvatn, where these birds and geese only may he shot. The bird that affords most sport is a variety of the grouse family, called in Icelandic Rjupa, and in Danish Ryper. The author has said a variety, hut there is little doubt there are three varieties, the ptarmigan (lagopus alpina, Linn.), identical with the Norwegian Fjeld-ryper, the willow-grouse (L. subalpina, Nilss.), identical with the Norwegian Dal- or Scov-ryper, and a hybrid produced by the interbreeding of these birds. It is hut seldom now that a bird of pure blood is fallen in with, the major part of the birds subsisting on the island being hybrids. In the wooded valley of the Fnjoska, and some other low-lying sheltered tracts overgrown with birch and willow scrub, a few of the willow-grouse are still to he found, and on the mountains in the interior a covey of true ptarmigan may yet be fallen in with. The majority of the birds that will fall to the sportsman’s gun are undoubtedly hybrid, for the full- grown birds will he found, on examination by any one who has shot ptarmigan and willow-grouse in Norway, to he but little, if any, larger than the former, and yet have a plumage closely akin to that of the latter. This interbreeding has probably been brought about in the following manner. Whenever one of the cold summers, caused by the settlement of Polar ice within a short distance of the Icelandic coast, has succeeded an unusually severe winter—as occurred as recently as last year (1881), the greater number of the ptarmigan which had come down from the mountains to the low ground for shelter did not return, hut remained and interbred with their near relatives, the willow-grouse. That interbreeding is the true cause of the difference in the size and appearance of the Icelandic ryper from the two varieties found in Norway is, the author thinks, almost conclusively proved by the habits of the major part of the birds of this genus found at the present time in Iceland. They chiefly breed on sunny slopes at some elevation, where the snow melts earlier than in far less elevated and sheltered situations, as the ptarmigan do in the north of Norway on, and just south and north of, the Arctic Circle, and not on the low-lying tracts over- grown with birch and willow, raised hut little above sea-level,

(1) Front Board
(2) Front Board
(3) Front Flyleaf
(4) Front Flyleaf
(5) Page [1]
(6) Page [2]
(7) Page [3]
(8) Page [4]
(9) Page [5]
(10) Page [6]
(11) Page [7]
(12) Page [8]
(13) Illustration
(14) Illustration
(15) Page [9]
(16) Page [10]
(17) Page [11]
(18) Page [12]
(19) Page [13]
(20) Page [14]
(21) Page 1
(22) Page 2
(23) Page 3
(24) Page 4
(25) Page 5
(26) Page 6
(27) Page 7
(28) Page 8
(29) Page 9
(30) Page 10
(31) Page 11
(32) Page 12
(33) Page 13
(34) Page 14
(35) Page 15
(36) Page 16
(37) Page 17
(38) Page 18
(39) Page 19
(40) Page 20
(41) Page 21
(42) Page 22
(43) Page 23
(44) Page 24
(45) Page 25
(46) Page 26
(47) Page 27
(48) Page 28
(49) Page 29
(50) Page 30
(51) Page 31
(52) Page 32
(53) Page 33
(54) Page 34
(55) Page 35
(56) Page 36
(57) Page 37
(58) Page 38
(59) Page 39
(60) Page 40
(61) Page 41
(62) Page 42
(63) Page 43
(64) Page 44
(65) Page 45
(66) Page 46
(67) Page 47
(68) Page 48
(69) Page 49
(70) Page 50
(71) Page 51
(72) Page 52
(73) Page 53
(74) Page 54
(75) Page 55
(76) Page 56
(77) Page 57
(78) Page 58
(79) Page 59
(80) Page 60
(81) Page 61
(82) Page 62
(83) Page 63
(84) Page 64
(85) Page 65
(86) Page 66
(87) Page 67
(88) Page 68
(89) Page 69
(90) Page 70
(91) Page 71
(92) Page 72
(93) Page 73
(94) Page 74
(95) Page 75
(96) Page 76
(97) Page 77
(98) Page 78
(99) Page 79
(100) Page 80
(101) Page 81
(102) Page 82
(103) Page 83
(104) Page 84
(105) Page 85
(106) Page 86
(107) Page 87
(108) Page 88
(109) Page 89
(110) Page 90
(111) Page 91
(112) Page 92
(113) Page 93
(114) Page 94
(115) Page 95
(116) Page 96
(117) Page 97
(118) Page 98
(119) Page 99
(120) Page 100
(121) Page 101
(122) Page 102
(123) Page 103
(124) Page 104
(125) Page 105
(126) Page 106
(127) Page 107
(128) Page 108
(129) Page 109
(130) Page 110
(131) Page 111
(132) Page 112
(133) Page 113
(134) Page 114
(135) Page 115
(136) Page 116
(137) Page 117
(138) Page 118
(139) Page 119
(140) Page 120
(141) Page 121
(142) Page 122
(143) Page 123
(144) Page 124
(145) Page 125
(146) Page 126
(147) Page 127
(148) Page 128
(149) Page 129
(150) Page 130
(151) Page 131
(152) Page 132
(153) Page 133
(154) Page 134
(155) Page 135
(156) Page 136
(157) Page 137
(158) Page 138
(159) Page 139
(160) Page 140
(161) Page 141
(162) Page 142
(163) Page 143
(164) Page 144
(165) Page 145
(166) Page 146
(167) Page 147
(168) Page 148
(169) Page 149
(170) Page 150
(171) Page 151
(172) Page 152
(173) Page 153
(174) Page 154
(175) Page 155
(176) Page 156
(177) Page 157
(178) Page 158
(179) Page 159
(180) Page 160
(181) Page 161
(182) Page 162
(183) Page 163
(184) Page 164
(185) Page 165
(186) Page 166
(187) Page 167
(188) Page 168
(189) Page 169
(190) Page 170
(191) Page 171
(192) Page 172
(193) Page 173
(194) Page 174
(195) Page 175
(196) Page 176
(197) Page 177
(198) Page 178
(199) Page 179
(200) Page 180
(201) Page 181
(202) Page 182
(203) Page 183
(204) Page 184
(205) Page [1]
(206) Page [2]
(207) Page [3]
(208) Page [4]
(209) Page [5]
(210) Page [6]
(211) Page [7]
(212) Page [8]
(213) Rear Flyleaf
(214) Rear Flyleaf
(215) Rear Board
(216) Rear Board
(217) Spine
(218) Fore Edge
(219) Scale
(220) Color Palette