FALCONID.E — THE FALCONS. 



ii; 



the figures of a pair of \av. (jijrfalco, by Wolf, in Xewton's Ootheca AVolle}'- 

 aiia, I can discover no difference at all ; tluis it would seem tliat our l)ird 

 occasionally closely approaches in tints and markings this race of Con- 

 tinental Europe, of whicii I have seen only one immature example, and no 

 adults. 



I cannot agree witli ]Mr. Xewton in considering the Gerfalcons of the 

 interior of Arctic America as identical with the Iceland form, though that 

 distinguished ornithologist considers them so in his paper in the Proceedings 

 of the Philadelphia Academy' for July, 1871, basing his conclusion upon the 

 specimens from which the above descriptions were taken, wiiieli liad lieen 

 sent over to England for comparison. I liave never yet seen a specimen of 

 islaiulicus which could not be distinguished, by the characters given in my 

 synopsis, from these examples, while they can be separated from that race 

 by the characters which Mr. Xewtnn himself gives, in his diagnostic table in 

 the paper above cited, for distinguishing the adults of idandwus and gyr- 

 falco. 



The var. sacer is evidently separable from both islandicus and gyrfalco, 

 and about as much related to one as to the other ; comliining the size and 

 proportions of the former with the colors of the latter, while in the wide 

 amount of individual variation of plumage its lighter extreme approaches 

 one, while its darkest phase approximates as closely to the average plum- 

 age of the other. 



LIST OF SPECIMENS EX.VMIXED. 



National Museum, 6. 



Tar. labradura. -icorBoN. (^^i ^i- 



BLACE GEBFALCON. 



Falco lahradora, AuD. B. Am. pi. cxcvi, 1831. 



Sp. Cihr. Adult ( 9 breeding plumage ? 30,375, Rigolet, Labrador ; Mr. ConoUy). 

 Ground-color of the plumage uniform, very deep, clear, dark plumbeous-brown, con- 

 tinuously uniform above ; larger scapulars, secondaries, secondary coverts, and primaries 

 more dilute along edges, however, the tint palest and broadest terminally. Tail perfectly 

 uniform, except at the end ; the tip being narrowly whitish, and aliout half an inch 

 anterior to this, a transverse series of hidden irregular transverse creamy-white spots. 

 The head (except beneath) is unvariegated. Beneath, the dark tint inclines more to 

 blackish clove-brown, more dilute on the tibiaa ; feathers edged laterally with white, this 

 prevailing on the throat, but everywhere else far less than the dusky in amount ; on the 

 tibire and lower tail-coverts the white is in the form of irregular spots. Anal region un- 

 variegated ; lining of the wing with circular .spots of white along the outer webs of the 

 feathers. Under surface of primaries with plumbeous prevalent, but this crossed with 



