diff --git a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Iterable.scala b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Iterable.scala
index 079adcda33..dd2814d5dc 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Iterable.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Iterable.scala
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ package strawman.collection
 
 import scala.annotation.unchecked.uncheckedVariance
 import scala.reflect.ClassTag
-import scala.{Int, Boolean, Array, Any, Unit, StringContext}
+import scala.{Int, Boolean, Array, Any, Unit, StringContext, Option}
 import java.lang.String
 
 import strawman.collection.mutable.{ArrayBuffer, StringBuilder}
@@ -69,8 +69,7 @@ trait IterableOps[+A] extends Any {
   /** Is the collection empty? */
   def isEmpty: Boolean = !iterator().hasNext
 
-  /** The first element of the collection. */
-  def head: A = iterator().next()
+  def headOption: Option[A] = iterator().headOption
 
   /** The number of elements in this collection, if it can be cheaply computed,
     *  -1 otherwise. Cheaply usually means: Not requiring a collection traversal.
@@ -165,8 +164,6 @@ trait IterableMonoTransforms[+A, +Repr] extends Any {
     */
   def drop(n: Int): Repr = fromIterableWithSameElemType(View.Drop(coll, n))
 
-  /** The rest of the collection without its first element. */
-  def tail: Repr = drop(1)
 }
 
 /** Transforms over iterables that can return collections of different element types.
diff --git a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Seq.scala b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Seq.scala
index f28a9849f0..09b6cd78bc 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Seq.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/Seq.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package strawman.collection
 
-import scala.{Any, Boolean, Int, IndexOutOfBoundsException}
+import scala.{Any, Boolean, Int, IndexOutOfBoundsException, Option, Some, None}
 import strawman.collection.mutable.Iterator
 import strawman.collection.immutable.{List, Nil}
 
@@ -9,22 +9,21 @@ import scala.annotation.unchecked.uncheckedVariance
 /** Base trait for sequence collections */
 trait Seq[+A] extends Iterable[A] with SeqLike[A, Seq] with ArrayLike[A]
 
+trait InhabitedSeq[+A]
+  extends Seq[A]
+    with InhabitedLinearSeqOps[A, Seq[A]]
+
 /** Base trait for linearly accessed sequences that have efficient `head` and
   *  `tail` operations.
   *  Known subclasses: List, LazyList
   */
 trait LinearSeq[+A] extends Seq[A] with LinearSeqLike[A, LinearSeq] { self =>
 
-  /** To be overridden in implementations: */
-  def isEmpty: Boolean
-  def head: A
-  def tail: LinearSeq[A]
-
   /** `iterator` is overridden in terms of `head` and `tail` */
   def iterator() = new Iterator[A] {
-    private[this] var current: Seq[A] = self
+    private[this] var current: LinearSeq[A] = self
     def hasNext = !current.isEmpty
-    def next() = { val r = current.head; current = current.tail; r }
+    def next() = { val r = current.unsafeHead; current = current.unsafeTail; r }
   }
 
   /** `length` is defined in terms of `iterator` */
@@ -37,10 +36,23 @@ trait LinearSeq[+A] extends Seq[A] with LinearSeqLike[A, LinearSeq] { self =>
     if (n < 0) throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(n.toString)
     val skipped = drop(n)
     if (skipped.isEmpty) throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(n.toString)
-    skipped.head
+    skipped.unsafeHead
   }
 }
 
+/**
+  * Collections that have at least one `head` element followed
+  * by a `tail`.
+  */
+trait InhabitedLinearSeqOps[+A, +Repr] extends Any {
+
+  /** The first element of the collection. */
+  def head: A
+
+  /** The rest of the collection without its first element. */
+  def tail: Repr
+}
+
 trait IndexedSeq[+A] extends Seq[A] { self =>
   override def view: IndexedView[A] = new IndexedView[A] {
     def length: Int = self.length
@@ -54,8 +66,21 @@ trait SeqLike[+A, +C[X] <: Seq[X]]
   extends IterableLike[A, C]
     with SeqMonoTransforms[A, C[A @uncheckedVariance]] // sound bcs of VarianceNote
 
+trait InhabitedLinearSeqFactory[+C[X] <: InhabitedSeq[X]] {
+  def apply[A](a: A, as: A*): C[A]
+}
+
 /** Base trait for linear Seq operations */
-trait LinearSeqLike[+A, +C[X] <: LinearSeq[X]] extends SeqLike[A, C] {
+trait LinearSeqLike[+A, +C[+X] <: LinearSeq[X]] extends SeqLike[A, C] {
+
+  protected def coll: C[A]
+
+  /** Extract the head and tail, if the collection is not empty */
+  def uncons: Option[(A, C[A])]
+
+  /** To be overriden for performance in subclasses */
+  protected def unsafeHead: A = uncons.get._1
+  protected def unsafeTail: C[A] = uncons.get._2
 
   /** Optimized version of `drop` that avoids copying
     *  Note: `drop` is defined here, rather than in a trait like `LinearSeqMonoTransforms`,
@@ -63,15 +88,16 @@ trait LinearSeqLike[+A, +C[X] <: LinearSeq[X]] extends SeqLike[A, C] {
     *  whereas we need to assume here that `Repr` is the same as the underlying
     *  collection type.
     */
-  override def drop(n: Int): C[A @uncheckedVariance] = { // sound bcs of VarianceNote
-  def loop(n: Int, s: Iterable[A]): C[A] =
-    if (n <= 0) s.asInstanceOf[C[A]]
-    // implicit contract to guarantee success of asInstanceOf:
-    //   (1) coll is of type C[A]
-    //   (2) The tail of a LinearSeq is of the same type as the type of the sequence itself
-    // it's surprisingly tricky/ugly to turn this into actual types, so we
-    // leave this contract implicit.
-    else loop(n - 1, s.tail)
+  override def drop(n: Int): C[A] = {
+    def loop(n: Int, s: C[A]): C[A] = {
+      if (n <= 0) s
+      // implicit contract to guarantee success of asInstanceOf:
+      //   (1) coll is of type C[A]
+      //   (2) The tail of a LinearSeq is of the same type as the type of the sequence itself
+      // it's surprisingly tricky/ugly to turn this into actual types, so we
+      // leave this contract implicit.
+      else loop(n - 1, s.unsafeTail.asInstanceOf[C[A]])
+    }
     loop(n, coll)
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/LazyList.scala b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/LazyList.scala
index b9cf342948..998f28d9be 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/LazyList.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/LazyList.scala
@@ -18,8 +18,6 @@ class LazyList[+A](expr: => LazyList.Evaluated[A])
   }
 
   override def isEmpty = force.isEmpty
-  override def head = force.get._1
-  override def tail = force.get._2
 
   def #:: [B >: A](elem: => B): LazyList[B] = new LazyList(Some((elem, this)))
 
@@ -34,6 +32,8 @@ class LazyList[+A](expr: => LazyList.Evaluated[A])
         case Some((hd, tl)) => s"$hd #:: $tl"
       }
     else "LazyList(?)"
+
+  def uncons: Option[(A, LazyList[A])] = force
 }
 
 object LazyList extends IterableFactory[LazyList] {
diff --git a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/List.scala b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/List.scala
index 623062dde8..56673facec 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/List.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/immutable/List.scala
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 package strawman.collection.immutable
 
 import scala.annotation.unchecked.uncheckedVariance
-import scala.Nothing
+import scala.{Option, None, NoSuchElementException, Nothing, Some, UnsupportedOperationException}
 import scala.Predef.???
-import strawman.collection.{Iterable, IterableFactory, IterableOnce, LinearSeq, SeqLike}
+import strawman.collection.{InhabitedLinearSeqFactory, InhabitedLinearSeqOps, InhabitedSeq, Iterable, IterableFactory, IterableOnce, LinearSeq, LinearSeqLike, View}
 import strawman.collection.mutable.{Buildable, ListBuffer}
 
 
 /** Concrete collection type: List */
 sealed trait List[+A]
   extends LinearSeq[A]
-    with SeqLike[A, List]
+    with LinearSeqLike[A, List]
     with Buildable[A, List[A]] {
 
   def fromIterable[B](c: Iterable[B]): List[B] = List.fromIterable(c)
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ sealed trait List[+A]
   protected[this] def newBuilder = new ListBuffer[A].mapResult(_.toList)
 
   /** Prepend element */
-  def :: [B >: A](elem: B): List[B] =  new ::(elem, this)
+  def :: [B >: A](elem: B): List.NonEmpty[B] =  new ::(elem, this)
 
   /** Prepend operation that avoids copying this list */
   def ++:[B >: A](prefix: List[B]): List[B] =
     if (prefix.isEmpty) this
-    else prefix.head :: prefix.tail ++: this
+    else prefix.unsafeHead :: (prefix.unsafeTail ++: this)
 
   /** When concatenating with another list `xs`, avoid copying `xs` */
   override def ++[B >: A](xs: IterableOnce[B]): List[B] = xs match {
@@ -35,21 +35,37 @@ sealed trait List[+A]
 }
 
 case class :: [+A](x: A, private[collection] var next: List[A @uncheckedVariance]) // sound because `next` is used only locally
-  extends List[A] {
+  extends List[A]
+    with InhabitedSeq[A]
+    with InhabitedLinearSeqOps[A, List[A]] {
+
   override def isEmpty = false
-  override def head = x
-  override def tail = next
+  def head = x
+  def tail = next
+
+  def uncons: Option[(A, List[A])] = Some((x, next))
+  override protected def unsafeHead: A = x
+  override protected def unsafeTail: List[A] = next
 }
 
 case object Nil extends List[Nothing] {
   override def isEmpty = true
-  override def head = ???
-  override def tail = ???
+
+  def uncons = None
+  override protected def unsafeHead: Nothing = throw new NoSuchElementException
+  override protected def unsafeTail: Nothing = throw new UnsupportedOperationException
 }
 
-object List extends IterableFactory[List] {
+object List extends IterableFactory[List] with InhabitedLinearSeqFactory[::] {
+
+  type NonEmpty[A] = ::[A]
+
   def fromIterable[B](coll: Iterable[B]): List[B] = coll match {
     case coll: List[B] => coll
     case _ => ListBuffer.fromIterable(coll).toList
   }
+
+  def apply[A](a: A, as: A*): List.NonEmpty[A] =
+    a :: fromIterable(View.Elems(as: _*))
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/mutable/Iterator.scala b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/mutable/Iterator.scala
index 51ab5c7cba..a04dfa2aee 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/mutable/Iterator.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/strawman/collection/mutable/Iterator.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package strawman.collection.mutable
 
-import scala.{Boolean, Int, Unit, Nothing, NoSuchElementException}
+import scala.{Boolean, Int, Unit, Nothing, NoSuchElementException, Option, Some, None}
 import strawman.collection.{IndexedView, IterableOnce}
 
 /** A core Iterator class */
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ trait Iterator[+A] { self =>
     while (hasNext) { len += 1; next() }
     len
   }
+
+  def headOption: Option[A] = if (hasNext) Some(next()) else None
+
   def filter(p: A => Boolean): Iterator[A] = new Iterator[A] {
     private var hd: A = _
     private var hdDefined: Boolean = false
diff --git a/src/test/scala/strawman/collection/test/Test.scala b/src/test/scala/strawman/collection/test/Test.scala
index 5b7922a982..392868d864 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/strawman/collection/test/Test.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/strawman/collection/test/Test.scala
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import org.junit.Test
 
 class StrawmanTest {
 
-  def seqOps(xs: Seq[Int]): Unit = {
+  def seqOps(xs: InhabitedSeq[Int]): Unit = {
     val x1 = xs.foldLeft("")(_ + _)
     val y1: String = x1
     val x2 = xs.foldRight("")(_ + _)
@@ -69,8 +69,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     val y2: String = x2
     val x3 = xs.indexWhere(_ % 2 == 0)
     val y3: Int = x3
-    val x4 = xs.head
-    val y4: Int = x4
     val x5 = xs.to(List)
     val y5: List[Int] = x5
     val (xs6, xs7) = xs.partition(_ % 2 == 0)
@@ -96,7 +94,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     println(x1)
     println(x2)
     println(x3)
-    println(x4)
     println(x5)
     println(xs6.to(List))
     println(xs7.to(List))
@@ -117,8 +114,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     val y2: String = x2
     val x3 = xs.indexWhere(_ % 2 == 0)
     val y3: Int = x3
-    val x4 = xs.head
-    val y4: Int = x4
     val x5 = xs.to(List)
     val y5: List[Char] = x5
     val (xs6, xs7) = xs.partition(_ % 2 == 0)
@@ -148,7 +143,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     println(x1)
     println(x2)
     println(x3)
-    println(x4)
     println(x5)
     println(xs6)
     println(xs7)
@@ -171,8 +165,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     val y2: String = x2
     val x3 = xs.indexWhere(_ % 2 == 0)
     val y3: Int = x3
-    val x4 = xs.head
-    val y4: Int = x4
     val x5 = xs.to(List)
     val y5: List[Int] = x5
     val (xs6, xs7) = xs.partition(_ % 2 == 0)
@@ -200,7 +192,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     println(x1)
     println(x2)
     println(x3)
-    println(x4)
     println(x5)
     println(xs6.view)
     println(xs7.view)
@@ -222,8 +213,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     val y2: String = x2
     val x3 = xs.indexWhere(_ % 2 == 0)
     val y3: Int = x3
-    val x4 = xs.head
-    val y4: Int = x4
     val x5 = xs.to(List)
     val y5: List[Int] = x5
     val (xs6, xs7) = xs.partition(_ % 2 == 0)
@@ -251,7 +240,6 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     println(x1)
     println(x2)
     println(x3)
-    println(x4)
     println(x5)
     println(xs6)
     println(xs6.to(List))
@@ -295,8 +283,8 @@ class StrawmanTest {
     val intsListBuf = ints.to(ListBuffer)
     val intsView = ints.view
     seqOps(ints)
-    seqOps(intsBuf)
-    seqOps(intsListBuf)
+//    seqOps(intsBuf)
+//    seqOps(intsListBuf)
     viewOps(intsView)
     stringOps("abc")
     arrayOps(Array(1, 2, 3))