522 THE GRAY GYRFALCON. 



The killing of a Bald Eagle ought to be a penilentiarx' offense, and the man 

 who would wantonly destroy one of their monumental landmarks is beneath 

 contempt. 



Nothing, outside of human woes, could be sadder than the sight of an 

 Eagle in a cage. Captivity is irksome at best, and the contemplation of it is 

 seldom edifying. Yet the sight of a monkey is not so bad. Ropes and sticks 

 and wire nettings are sources of infinite amusement to Jocko, as to his spec- 

 tators. Bruin enjovs his fare of peanuts and bonbons, and might ni)t wish 

 to exchange his snug pit of concrete for the vicissitudes of mountain life. 

 Caged song birds, e\'en, \mve always artistic relief for their wounded spirit. 

 But for the captive Eagle there is no cons(.)lation whatever. Befouled, dis- 

 heveled, sick at heart, and aching with imprisnned forces, he can only scowl 

 in sullen disdain at his persecutors, or mope in abject misery before them. 

 The sight of such a captive degrades the onlooker as it outrages e\er\- senti- 

 ment i>f justice and titness. We have ni> right to imprison creatures whi;)se 

 lives we cannot make reasonably happy. 



No. 211. 



GRAY GYRFALCON. 



A. O. U. No. 334. Faico riisticolus Linn. 



Synonyms. — (".kav Terf.\i.C(ix. Ickl.\-VI) (ivRF.ALCON (sharing the name 

 with /■'. island iciis ). 



Description. — Adults: Upper[)arts pale bluish gray, everywhere marked, 

 chiefly in transverse spots and bars, with darker or slaty, these bars reduced on 

 head and hindneck, leaving these parts noticeably lighter than back; barring of tail 

 well marked grayish w-hite and slaty gray ; underparts white, more or less streaked 

 and striped with the dark color of hack on sides, flanks, flags, and crissum, but 

 general tone of underparts much lighter than that of upperparts ; a slight dark 

 mustache; eyelids, cere, and feet yellowish: bill bluish changing to yellow at base; 

 iris brown. Young birds are not distinctly barred, but more uniform dark gray 

 above, edged with lighter and more or less whitish-spotted on back and wings ; 

 below more or less streaked with dusky on lighter ground. Length of adults : 

 22.00-24.00 (538.8-609.6) ; wing T4.00-16.30 (333.6-419.1) ; tail 9.00-10.00 (228.6- 

 254) ; culmen .93-1.00 (24.1-25.4) ; tarsus 2.40-2.73 (61-69.9). Female near the 

 maxinmni of these dimensions. 



Recognition Marks. — Ciull size; larger than any local Falcon; gray tone of 

 plumage unmistakable. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on clifi's. Eggs: 3 or 4, 

 dull whitish, sprinkled, stained, or overlaid with dull reddish brown. .\v, size, 

 2.30 X 1.80 (38.4x45.7). 



