Gyrfalco. BIRDS. ACCIPITRES. 51 



14. G. candkans. — Plumage white, with dusky lines or spots. 



Gyrfalco, Will. Orn. 44. Sibb. Scot. 14. Penn. Brit. Zool. 1. 177 — T. 



rusticolus and fuscus, Fab. Fauna Gr. 55 Falco Islandicus, Temm. Orn. 



1. 17 W, Hebog chwyldro In Scotland rare; Aberdeen, Pennant; 



Orkney, Low. 



Length 1 foot 10 inches. Bill, cere, and feet yellow, more or less tinged 

 with blue. The dark spots on the wings are large. The throat and long 

 thigh-feathers pure white ; the rest of the plumage below white, with narrow 

 dusky stripes. The tail, consisting of 12 feathers, has dark bands, from 12 to 

 14 hi number, and is longer than the wings. The female has the dusky mark- 

 ings larger and more numerous on the under side. Breeds in rocks, and lays 

 from 3 to 5 spotted eggs of the size of a ptarmigan. The young birds have 

 the ground of the plumage dusk}', edged and spotted with white, with the 

 cere and margin of the eye bluish — Feeds on birds, darting down upon them 



like an arrow The Spotted Falcon of Pennant, Brit. ZooL i. 189., seems to 



be a young bird of this species. 



Gen. VIII. BALBUSARDUS, (Pandion of Savigny), 

 Osprey. — Outer toe capable of having its position and 

 motion reversed, and having a larger claw than the inner 

 toe. 



15. B. Halicetus. — Wings longer than the tail. Tarsi short, 



thick, and reticulated. 



Balbusardus, Will. Orn. 37- Sibb. Scot. 15 Osprey, Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 



174 — Falco Hal. Temm. Orn. i. 47 W, Pysg Eryr, Gwalch y weilgi; 



G, Iolair uisge. — Frequents the margins of large rivers and lakes. 



Length 23, breadth 64 inches ; weight G2 ounces ; bill black, cere and legs 

 blue, irides yellow. The plumage above is brown ; the feathers on the head 

 edged with white ; hind head white. Below, it is white. Beneath the eye is 

 a band of brown, reaching almost to the shoulder. Quills, about 28 ; those 

 from the 17th to the base, pointed; inner webs of the four first abbreviated 

 at the extremity. Tail of 12 equal feathers ; the two middle ones dusky ; the 

 others barred with brown and white. Tibiae long. Soles of the feet very 

 rough. Montagu states (Sup. Orn. Diet.), that, " on the inner side of the 

 extremity of the outer toe are two or three spines." Breeds on the ground, 

 among reeds, or on trees. Eggs 3 or 4, white and elliptical. Young with the 

 feathers on the breast vellow, with dusky or brown spots.— Feeds on fish 

 chiefly, darting upon them in the water. 



Gen. IX. MILVUS. Kite.-- -Tarsi plated, short. 



16. M. vulgaris. — Plumage, above, deep brown, with pale 



edges ; beneath, ferruginous, with dark longitudinal stripes. 



Will. Orn. 41. . Sibb. Scot. 15. Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 185 Falco milvus, 



Temm. Orn. i. 59 — W, Barcud; G, Clamhan gabhlach, Cromanloch- 

 aidh. — Wooded situations, but not common. 



Length 28, breadth G4 inches ; weight 44 ounces. Bill yellowish, with a 

 dusky tip ; cere and irides yellow. The feathers on the head are light-coloured, 

 with a dark streak on the shafts. Quills 24 ; inner webs of the first four, and 

 outer webs of the third and fourth, abbreviated ; black at the extremities. 

 Two outer tail-feathers more produced, and darker than the others. The 

 female has the brown and pale edges of the feathers more distinct, the latter 

 passing into white. Breeds in trees, making a nest of sticks, lined with wool. 



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