82 NATURAL HISTORY OF AIJCTIC AMERICA. 



trouble. Ill \\ inter tliey .subsist wholly onptarmi<iaiis and liarcs. Gov- 

 ernor Fencker, dui-iug his long residence in Northern Greenland, has liad 

 good opportunities for studying this bird, and he thinks tliere is but one 

 species inliabiting the country, having Icnown of instances where the 

 parents of a nest represented the two extremes of plumage. Nor does 

 the difference seem to be sexual, seasonal, or altogether dependent upon 

 age, but more probably partaking of that remarkable phen<)nien(»n famil- 

 iar in Scoiys asio. 



During my frequent excursions about Disko Island I often lia<l an 

 opportunity of witnessing this hawk preying upon jaegers, kittiwakes. 

 &c., but was surprised that they are not i)ossessed of swifter tlight. A 

 duck hawk would have made a short Job of catching a kittiwake that 

 one of these hawks followed till he fairly tired the Ijird out. Tlieir sue 

 cess seems to depend more upon a stubborn perseverance than alacrity 

 of flight. The flesh of the young birds is by no means despicable food, 

 and is liighly prized by the Danish colonists. 



23. Falco communis, Gin. 



A regular breeder in Cumberland. Usually found about the Eider 

 Islands. Procured nearly full-fledged young in August that were taken 

 from the nest on a high cliff in the Greater Kingwah Fjord. 



24. Astur atricapillus, (Wils.) Jard. 



A single specimen, at Niantilic, Septeudjcr 10, 1877. 



25. Haliaetus albicilla, Linud. 



"Notkovalik," (Jrconlanders. 



I saw this eagle at American Harbor, in October, 1877, at two differ- 

 ent times. In the spring of 1878 I often noticed a pair that flnally 

 built a nest on a high but not inaccessible clift" in Kingwah Fjord. I 

 could have shot the birds, but waited until I should be able to i)rocure 

 the eggs, and then get the birds. Unfortunately tlie wind set in iVom 

 the south, and I could not get near the place on account of ice till the 

 Florence set sail for the Greenland coast. Enough was ascertained, 

 however, to show that this bird does breed on the western shores of 

 Davis Straits, althougli ]>robably sjyaringly. On the coast of Green 

 land it is by no means uncommon. Eggs were procured from ( 'lausliavn 

 through the Icindness of Governor V.. Fencker. 



26. Lagopus albus, ((iiiu-l.) And. 



'•Al;:i;,Mk " Oloth .spi-cio.s), CuiiiIk rlaiid Kskiino. 

 Very few ptarmigan were found about our winter harbor: but. from 

 the Eskimo accounts, they are (|nit«' common in tlie larger valleys, where 



