666 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —RAPTORES — ACCIPITRES. 



instead of ruricola. There is, however, the good Lat. rusticns, rustic, rural, and rusticari, to 

 rusticate, live iu the country.) Gray Gvrfalcon. Iceland Gyrfalcon (in part). Form 

 strictly as in the preceding. Adult ,$ 9 '■ Not white, but gray, with darker markings. Above, 

 pale bluish-gray, with dark bars, crescents, or transverse spots in about equal amounts or 

 rather in excess, on the back, wdngs and tail, but on the head and hind neck the light color 

 prevailing ; crown thus decidedly lighter than back, owing to amount of white or whitish 

 streaking (reverse of the case in the next subspecies). Bars of tail well marked, the light ones 

 gray or grayish-white, especially the terminal one, the dark ones slate-gray, each about as 

 broad as the other. Under parts white, in tone decidedly lighter than the upper parts, being 

 moderately striped, streaked, or spotted with the dark color of the back on the sides, flanks, 

 flags, and crissum, the latter never immaculate; slight dark mustaches; cere, eyelids and feet 

 yellowish ; bill bluish, yellow at base ; iris dark brown ; bill and feet never whitening. Size not 

 appreciably different from that of the foregoing ; same difference between the sexes. Young: 

 Lacking distinct cross-bars on the upper parts, where the color is dark, with merely lighter 

 edgings of the feathers, and some spotting with whitish, often of a butfy shade, on the back, 

 wing-coverts, and outer webs of the quills. No bars or transverse dark markings on the 

 lower parts, where the dusky appears in lengthwise streaks of variable size and number, 

 usually narrower than the light ground color. Bill, cere, eyelids, and feet colored much alike, 

 not yellow or whitish. This is the stock-form of the subgenus Hierofalco ; it cannot be mis- 

 taken for the foregoing, in any plumage, but is very near the next, often hardly distinguish- 

 able. The best mark is : Head and neck lighter than the l)ack in this typical form ; head and 

 neck darker than the back in gyrfalco. True rusticolus inhabits tlie Arctic regions of Europe, 

 Asia, and America, including Iceland and southern portions of Greenland, breeding throughout 

 such range, and coming irregularly S. iu winter to the N. border of the U. S. ; it nests on cliflFs, 

 like the White Gyrfalcon, and the eggs are indistinguishable. Following is its synonymy, in 

 part : Gerfault (Vlslande, Gyrfalco islandicus Briss. Orn. i, 1760, p. 733, pi. 31. Falco rus- 

 ticolus LiXN. S. N. 10th ed. X, 17.58, p. 88; 12th ed. 17GG, p. 125 ; Fabric. Fn. Groenl. 1780, 

 p. 55; Gm. S. N. 1788, p. 2G8 ; Lath. Ind. Orn. i, 1790, p. 28. F. islandus Brunn. Orn. 

 Bor. 1764, p. 2, including this species and the foregoing one ; Gm. S. N. i, 1788, p. 271 ; 

 Hierofalco islandus Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i, 1874, p. 414. F.fuscus Fabric. Fn. Groenl. 

 1780, p. 56. F. gyrfalco Bodd. Tabl. 1783, p. 13, based on PI. Enlum. No. 210. F. can- 

 dicans var. islandicus Gm. S. N. 1788, p. 275. F. islandicus Daudin, Orn. ii, 1800, p. 100, 

 and of most authors, including myself. F. groenlandicus Daudin, Orn. ii, 1800, p. 127. F. 

 arcticus HolboU. Zeitschr. Ges. Nat. iii, 1854, p. 426. F. holboelU Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1873, 

 p. 415, and Hierofalco holboelU Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i, 1874, p. 415, at least in part. 

 F. sacer var. islandicus Coues, Key, 1872, p. 213. Falco (Hierofalco) gyrfalco var. islandicus 

 RiDGW^. in Bd. Brew, and Ridgw. Hist. N. A. B. iii, 1874, p. 108. F. gyrfalco-candicans and 

 F. eandicans-gyrfalco, Seebohm, Brit. B. i, 1883, p. 16. — This species is Ridgw. No. 412 o, 

 Coues, No. 500, A. 0. U. No. 3.54 



F. (H.) r. gyrfalco. (Gyrfalcon is tlie worst, gerfalcon the better, jerfalcon the best, spelling 

 of the name, if we regard the etymology of the word, which was formerly in English also ger- 

 faidcon, gerfaucon, gerfawcon, jerfaucon, gierfalcon, girefaucon, gyrfacoim, gerfauTc, etc., with 

 many identical or similar forms in other European languages : see the list given nwAe.y gerfalcon 

 in the Century Dictionary, where it is stated that the first element of the word is not connected 

 with Lat. gyrus, a gyration, circle, but with German geier, greedy. The wlicde M^ord is identical 

 with the Lat. hierofalco, now the technical subgeneric name, meaning literally " sacred falcon," 

 from Gr. Upoi, hieros, sacred, and Lat. falco, a falcon ; adapted from Gr. Upa^, hierax, a falcon, 

 now the technical name of another genus of jPafcomc^rt;.) Brown Gyrfalcon. American 

 (and European) Continental Gyrfalcon. Norwegian Gyrfalcon. Closely resem- 

 bling the last, and the distinctimi not very apparent ; darker, age for age, than the foregoing ; 



