THE BLACK GYRFALCUN. 287 



"()ii tlic 2<>tli of May I ag-ain visited the locality and succeedeil in 

 putting a charge of shot into the female, which had siuce the 11th of the 

 moiitli taken up with the mate of the bird shot on that date. The one .shot 

 on the 20th fell nearly a mile distant after tuml)ling headlong several times 

 through the air, and I could not find her. I supposed that the nest would 

 now be abandoned by the male, as he was particularly wary and gave 

 warning even Avhen I was over a thousand yards distant. 



"On May 22 1 went with a party of four to lower me over the cliff to 

 seciu'e the eggs which might remain in the nest. To my great astonishment 

 I found a pair of these Falcons launching into the air from the same site. 

 I descended to the uest. In front of it huge icicles stood joined with the 

 slightly projecting roof above the ledge; some of these ice colunms were 2 

 or 3 inches thick and 4 inches wide, forming an icy palisade around the 

 edge of the nest and pennitting approach to the interior only by a narrow 

 space or doorway next the main wall of rock, and I was compelled to 

 detach the ice before I could reach the four eggs I saAv within the uest, 

 which was composed of a few twigs and branches of larch and spruce, 

 irregularly disposed on the outer side of the rim of the nest to prevent the 

 eggs from rolling out, forming only a semicircular protection, while the 

 rear portion was a part of the bare rock of the ledge. Below these twigs 

 were the remains of former nests. Some of the sticks were so rotten that 

 they would not su])j)ort their weight Avhen held by one end. The eggs 

 were placed nearly touching each other. They contained small embryos 

 and had been incubated about twelve days. The parent of these is No. 

 9430S in the U. S. National Museum collection. * * * 



"This subspecies is the most abundant of any Hawk observed in this 

 region. During the excessively cold periods of winter but few are to be seen. 

 Aliout the middle of March they are more abundant and become plentiful by 

 the last of April. * * * Their food consists almost exclusively of Ptarmi- 

 gan, little else being found in their stomachs. They seize their prey while on 

 the wing, depending doubtless on their sudden appearance among a flock of 

 Ptarmigan to put their prey to flight, when it may be secured. Their food 

 is devoured on the ground; I have never seen them carry it in their talons. 



"The young birds are able to leave the nest by the middle of August, and 

 in September of some years they are quite abundant, flving over the houses at 

 Fort Chimo with but little fear. * * * Their manner of flight is by 

 extremel}' rapid wing beats followed by sailing for a few rods. They pass 

 through the air with great rapidity, no bird of prey in those regions flying- 

 more rapidly. « * * The only note ever heard from this Hawk was a 

 chattering scream of the syllables 'ke-a, ke-a, ke-a,' repeated a number of 

 times, more rapidly toward the fifth or sixth utterance, and iinally so blended 

 that the sound is a rattling scream. I have never seen one of these Hawks 

 alight in or fly from a tree. In the Ungava district they invariably select a 

 ledge of rock on the cliffs for nesting places." 



