Avifauna of Franz Josef Land. 257 



The nest of this Owl was not founds and it must remain 

 uncertain whether this bird breeds in Franz Josef Land. 

 Very likely it does, but I doubt whether it bred at Cape Flora 

 in 1897.— W. S. B.] 



5. Falco sp. inc. 



Falco candicans Neale, P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 653, 654. 



Dr. Neale refers to the Greenland Falcon the " Falcon 

 Hawk " seen on the 20th of April, 1882, at or near Cape 

 Flora. No species of diurnal bird of prey came under the 

 notice of Mr. Bruce and his companions during their sojourn 

 in the archipelago, nor, indeed, has any been recorded by 

 other explorers of Franz Josef Land. 



The specific identity of the Falcon that from time to time 

 visits Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlyaf has not been satis- 

 factorily determined, but the whiteness of the specimens 

 generally alluded to makes it probable that the Greenland 

 bird is the one that wanders most frequently to these Arctic 

 islands, including, it appears, Franz Josef Land. 



6. *Bernicla brenta (Pallas). 



Neale, P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 653,654; ? Feilden, t. c. p. 209; 

 Markham, Proc. Boy. Geogr. Soc. v. pp. 210, 216 ; 

 ? Nansen, op. cit. ii. pp. 335, 435, 436. 



The Brent appears to be the only species of Goose found 

 in the region, and is no doubt the species alluded to under 

 the name of ' Goose ' or ' Geese ' in the writings of Colonel 

 Feilden and Dr. Nansen. The former records that traces 

 of a Goose were observed by the members of Mr. Leigh 

 Smithes first ' Eira ' Expedition; and Dr. Neale says that 

 during the second expedition made in that vessel Brent Geese 

 along with Bain-Geese [Red-throated Divers] were seen and 

 shot on the cliffs 700 feet above sea-level. He also states 

 that a great many Brents came to the lowland near the pond 

 at Cape Flora, but that no signs of a nest could be found 

 anywhere. 



t Heuglin, in ' The Ibis,' 1872, p. 61, considered the bird observed by 

 him in Novaya Zemlya to be F. gyrfalco ; but in his ' Keisen nach dem 

 Nordpolarmeer ' (1874), iii. p. 83, he treats of the Novaya Zemlya records 

 under " Falco sp. ? " 



