WHITE (iYKFALCON. 213 



lowei' |);iitN, wliitc, iimiiinnilatc on throat; elsewhere, streaked and variously 

 spotted with dusk}'. Yonixj: — Darker than the adults at an early stage, some 

 of tlie lighter markings tinged with ochraceous. 



Hab. — Arctic Regions, including Arctic America and (Ireenland. 



Nest, placed on a shelf of a cliff. 



Kggs. two to four, light brownish-ied, faintly speckU^d witli Mnd)cr-l)rowji. 



This is till' ( J^'rfiilcon of America, and j:»erhaps also of Europe, for 

 the diffei'eucc between the two, if any, is very trifling. There are 

 now two different species and two sub-species of Gyrfalcon described 

 as American, and Me bow to the decision of the revision committee 

 who have so decided, but still hold our own opinion, that when this 

 fever of subdivision has cooled off a little and we l)ecome Ijetter 

 acquainted with tliis group, one species will be sufficient to include 

 the whole. 



At all events I am nuich pleased at being able to place this one 

 among the "Birds of Ontario," and for this privilege T am indebted 

 to Mr. G. R. White, of Ottawa, who secured, on the '2 3rd December, 

 1890, a fine adult male that was bestowing unsolicited attention 

 upon his domestic pigeons. 



This is so decidedly a nortliern bird, that it is rare to find it even 

 as far south as Ottawa. It is of circumpolar distribution, and has 

 been found Ijreeding in Greenland. In Alaska this form is rather 

 rare, though some of the others are quite common. Speaking of 

 Falco rn><fii'(>hiK (jjjrfalro^ Mr. Nelson sa3\s : "Througliout all Alaska, 

 from the Aleutian Islands north, both along the coast and through 

 the interior, extending from Behring Straits across the northern 

 portion of British America, the present falcon is the commonest 

 resident bird of prey. It frequents the vicinity of cliffs and rocky 

 points about the sea coast, or the rocky ravines of the interior, 

 during the breeding season, and the remainder of the year, especially 

 in the fall, it is found wandering over the country wherever food 

 can be obtained. In a series of skins of this species from various 

 parts of its lange, there is found an interminable gradation from 

 the whitest isInnduK to tlie darkest gyrfalcn and nisfiroliis. 



"Specimens in the National Museum collection from Greenland 

 show the widest extremes, which are bridged by connecting speci- 

 mens, so that it is impossible to definitely separate them. Newton's 

 separation of gyrfalco from IslanduH on the assumption that the 

 head is lighter than the back in one, and uniform with the back in 

 the other, I'ests upon a purely indi\idual character, as shown by my 

 Alaskan series of skins." 



