346 GYR-FALCON. 



during severe weather, when in the act of devouring a pigeon on 

 the top of a wheat-stack. Mr. EUman, its original owner, was 

 for a long time under the impression that it was a light-coloured 

 Peregrine, until Mr. Borrer convinced him that it belonged to the 

 group of Northern Falcons ; it was then assigned to F. islatidus^ and 

 was subsequently recognized as F. gyrfalco by that great authority, 

 the late Mr. J. H. Gurney (Borrer's B. Sussex, pp. 5, 6). I had the 

 pleasure of examining this specimen on INIarch 5th 1898; it is in 

 adult plumage. An immature example, shot near Orford, Suffolk, 

 in October 1867, has been assigned by Dr. R. B. Sharpe to this 

 species. 



The Gyr-Falcon inhabits Norway and Sweden, while, according to 

 Dr. Menzbier, it is common and resident about the Varanger Fjord, 

 and occasionally breeds in Russian Lapland ; in fact Mr. H. J. 

 Pearson found a nest containing two young birds on a cliff near 

 Sviati Nos, on the Murman coast, in June 1895. It does not 

 appear to migrate regularly or to any great extent, but from time to 

 time birds referable to this species have been obtained further south 

 in Russia than the district of St. Petersburg, as well as in Poland, 

 Northern Germany and Holland. 



The late Mr. John WoUey was, I believe, the first naturalist who 

 gave, from his own observations (chiefly in West Finmark), any 

 particulars of the breeding of this species, and for full details 

 reference should be made to Prof Newton's ' Ootheca Wolleyana,' 

 Pt. i., pp. 87-98, pi. viii (eggs) ; also pi. C (birds). In the majority 

 of cases the nests in which the eggs were deposited were on ledges 

 of rocks, but sometimes in trees; subsequently. Prof. R. CoUett found 

 that in the portions of West Finmark which he visited, as well as in 

 the Dovrefjeld, nests in trees were more often used. The eggs, up to 

 4 in number, resemble those of the Iceland Falcon, but are a trifle 

 smaller. 



The distinctive characters of the plumage of the adult have already 

 been sufficiently described ; the cere is yellow ; the bill dark bluish ; 

 tarsi and toes yellow. Length : male 19-5 in., wing 14 in. ; female 

 22 in., wing 15 in. The young birds can hardly be distinguished 

 from those of the preceding species, except by experts. 



All these Northern Falcons were formerly esteemed in Europe for 

 hawking ; but the experience of our modern falconers is that they 

 become " soft " and sluggish in our cHmate. 



