FALCON 237 



tralia. In the United Kingdom it was formerly very common, and 

 hardly a high rock from the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight but had 

 a pair as its tenants. But the British gamekeeper has long held 

 the mistaken faith that it is his Avorst foe, and the number of pairs 

 which are now allowed to rear their brood unmolested in these 

 islands must be small indeed. Yet its utility to the game- 

 preserver, by destroying those of his precious wards that shew any 

 sign of infirmity, can hardly be questioned by reason, and no one 

 has more earnestly urged its claims to protection than Mr. 

 G. E. Freeman {Falconry &c. p. 1 0).^ Nearly allied to this Falcon 

 are several species of which it is impossible here to treat at length, 

 such as F. harbarus of Mauritania, F. minor of South Africa, the 

 Asiatic F. babi/lonicus, F. ])eregrinator of India — the " Shaheen," and 

 perhaps F. cassini of South America, with some others. 



Next to the typical Falcon comes a group known as the " great 

 northern " Falcons {Hierofalco). Of these the most remarkable is 

 the Gyrfalcon, F. gyrfalcn, whose home is in the Scandinavian 

 mountains, though the young are yearly visitants to the plains of 

 Holland and Germany. In plumage it very much resembles F. 

 peregrinus, but its flanks have generally a bluer tinge, and its 

 superiority in size is at once manifest. Nearly allied to it is the 

 Icelander, F. islandus, which externally differs in its paler colour- 

 ing, and in almost entirely wanting the black mandibular patch. 

 Its proportions, however, differ a good deal, its body being elongated. 

 Its country is shewn by its name, but it also inhabits South Green- 

 land, and not unfrequently makes its way to the British Islands. 

 Very close to this comes the Greenland Falcon, F. candicans, a 

 native of North Greenland, and perhaps of other countries within 

 the Arctic circle. Like the last, the Greenland Falcon from time 

 to time occurs in the United Kingdom, but it is always to be dis- 

 tinguished by wearing a plumage in Avhich at every age the prevail- 

 ing coloiu" is pure white. In North-Eastern America these birds 

 are replaced by a kindred form, F. labradorus, first detected by 

 Audubon,^ and lately recognized by Mr. Dresser (Orn. Miscell. i. p. 



^ It is not to be inferred, however, as many writers have done, that Falcons 

 habitually prey upon birds in which disease has made any serious progress. Such 

 birds meet their fate from the less noble Accipitres, or predatory animals of many 

 kinds, their death being often caused by the parasites which infest them, for no 

 sooner is the condition of their " host " lowered than they gain an incieased power 

 and multiply in numbers. But when a bird is first affected by any disorder, its 

 power of taking care of itself is at once impaired, and hence in the majority of 

 cases it may become an easy victim under circumstances which would enable a 

 perfectly sound bird to escape from the attack even of a Falcon. 



- Recent American authors call this form F. sacer, identifying it with the 

 "Speckled Partridge-Hawk" of J. R. Forster {Phil. Trans. Ixii. p. 383) which 

 he wrongly referred to the '■' Sacre" of Brisson {Orn. i. p. 337), though stating 

 that its " irides are yellow ", a fact which shews it to have been a Gos-hawk ! 



