Birds of Prey. 



125 



THE ICELAND 



GYR-FAI.CON. 



(Hierofalco 



islandicus.) 



The Iceland Gyr-Falcon. 



The home of the species is in Northern Greenland and 

 Arctic America. It is a noble bird on the wing, but 

 does not possess the fire and dash of a Peregrine, and 

 is not so much in request with Falconers as the latter 

 bird. In a wild state it feeds on Willow-Grouse and 

 Ptarmigan as well as Mice and Lemmings. The eggs 

 are laid on the bare rock, and are four in number, 

 closely mottled and clouded with rufous or chestnut, 

 and from two-and-a-quarter to two-and-a-half inches 

 in length. Sometimes the bird makes use ot the de- 

 serted nest of some other species. 



Both this and the next species 

 have blue bills, and always have 

 the flanks distincth' cross-barred. 

 The head of the Iceland Gyr-Fal- 

 con is white, distinctly streaked 

 with black, and the throat and chest are also streaked 

 with black, while the bird is always darker in appear- 

 ance than a Greenland G\T-P"alcon. The present 

 species is an inhabitant of Iceland, and occasionally some individuals wander south, 

 in winter, at which season thev have been sometimes captured in Great Britain. 



Like the Greenland Falcon, the Iceland 

 representative of the Gyr-Falcons feeds largely 

 on Ptarmigan, and also captures Plovers, 

 Guillemots and Ducks. In mediaeval times the 

 species was highlv esteemed by Falconers, but 

 at the present da}' it is not so much in vogue, 

 for the same reason as the Greenland Falcon. 

 The nest of a Raven is often chosen by the 

 bird, and sometimes a nest is built on the ledge 

 of a cliff. The eggs are four in number, closely 

 clouded with rufous, and are about two-and-a- 

 (|uarter to two-and-a-half inches in length. 



This species has pro- 

 bably occurred more often 

 in Great Britain than has 

 been supposed, and has 

 doubtless been mistaken for the Iceland Gyr- 

 P^alcon. It may always be distinguished from 

 the latter species, when adult, by its uniform 

 The Grey Gyr-Falcon. dark head. The young of the two birds arc 



THE GREY 

 GVR FALCON. 



{H ierofalco gyr/alcu.) 



