Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1976, Side 110

occasionally 15—20. They are mostly seen
in autumn but there are also many spring
records. For a long time tliey have been
suspected of nesting in the wood llaejar-
stadaskógur. A singing male was seen
there in June 1943 and in the summer of
1957 í saw 2 cT cf and 1 ? there. In June
1969 I found 1 pair; the cf was busy
collecting caterpillars and carried them
away. No nest was found despite inten-
sive search. Each summer 1971—1975
Bramblings were seen in Baejarstadaskóg-
ur. In summer 1974 members of the
Brathay Exploration Group report to
have seen a newly flcdged young in tlie
wood. The above suggests that Brambl-
ings are nesting annually in Baejarstada-
skógur.
S n o w B u n t i n g s are rather rare
breeding birds. The greatest breeding
density is probably at Ingólfshöfdi (5—10
pairs) but scattered pairs also nest in
moraines on the Breidamerkursandur and
sparsely in the foothills up to a consider-
able height. In October and November
tltey may appear in large flocks but from
then on they clo not occur in large numb-
ers until April when they start increas-
ing again. It is possible that these birds
are Greenland passage migrants.
104