GYR FALCON. 287 



The above description is taken from the skin of an indivi- 

 dual obtained in Shetland. 



Female. — The female is much larger than the male, but 

 scarcely differs in colour. The following description is taken 

 from the individual figured by Mr Audubon, which was at 

 least seven years old, and was procured in Iceland. The fes- 

 toon on the edge of the upper mandible distinct, but the angu- 

 lar process or tooth in a great measure worn down. All the 

 other characters as above ; the second quill longest, the third 

 two-twelfths shorter, the first three quarters of an inch shorter 

 than the second ; the tail slightly rounded, the lateral feathers 

 being three quarters of an inch shorter than the longest. The 

 bill is very pale blue, the upper mandible black at the end, 

 the lower yellow ; the cere, superciliary ridge, edges of eyelids, 

 tarsi, and toes pale yellow ; the claws black. The general 

 colour of the plumage is white ; the feathers of the back, the 

 scapulars, the wing-coverts, and the secondary quills with a 

 greyish-black, generally arrow-shaped spot near the end. The 

 anterior dorsal feathers have also a dark shaft-line, those 

 farther back a lanceolate streak, and those on the rump a 

 similar streak with an additional spot. The primary quills 

 have seven partial bars toward the end, besides a large subter- 

 minal space of the same dark colour ; and the secondary quills 

 and coverts have three or four bars or spots ; the shafts of all 

 the quills dusky above, as are those of the two middle tail- 

 feathers, which have eight spots on the inner, and four on the 

 outer margin. On the lower parts are no markings excepting a 

 few lanceolate streaks on the sides, and on the elongated tibial 

 feathers. 



The oesophagus seven inches and a half long, of great width, 

 dilated into a large crop ; proventricular glandules oblong, 

 arranged into four very prominent longitudinal ridges, with 

 deep grooves between them. The stomach round, compressed, 

 about an inch and a half in diameter ; its muscular coat thin, 

 and composed of a single series of large fasciculi ; its inner coat 

 soft and irregularly rugous ; the pylorus with three knobs. The 

 intestine is thirty-six and a half inches in length, from five 



