151^ FALCO ISLAND reus. 



Female. — The Female, which is larger, resembles 

 the male in colour, only the spots are broader, especial- 

 ly on the breast and sides. The dimensions of birds in 

 this state I am unable to give from my own inspection. 

 The males, according to Temmiuck and others, are 

 about twenty-two inches in length, the females two feet 

 or a little more. • 



Variations — Individuals vary in the extent of 

 white, and in the form and size of the dark markings ; 

 but as they are very rarely seen in this state, little can 

 be said respecting them. It would appear from the 

 accounts of authors, that ultimately they become almost 

 pure white, and I have seen one which had merely a 

 few small spots of dusky on the upper parts. 



Habits. — The Gyr Falcon, or Iceland Falcon, inha- 

 bits the cold regions of both continents, and particular- 

 ly Iceland, whence it was obtained for the royal falcon- 

 ries. It was more highly esteemed for falconry than 

 any other species, and was employed for the larger 

 sorts of game, such as herons and geese, which it de- 

 stroyed by rising above them and descending perpendi- 

 cularly. It does not appear that any writer on British 

 birds has had opportunities of observing its habits. Dr 

 Richardson, who states that it is a constant resident in 

 the Hudson's Bay territories, where it is named the 

 Speckled Partridge Hawk, and the Winterer, gives the 

 following anecdote respecting it : — " In the middle of 

 June 1821, a pair of these birds attacked me, as I was 

 climbing in the vicinity of their nest, which was built 

 on a lofty precipice on the borders of Point Lake, in 



