120 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Bay territory, where it is known as the. Speckled Partridge- Hawk, and also 

 as the Winterer. Its soutliern limit he could not give, but he never met 

 with it south of 52°. He traced it northward to the coast of the Arctic 

 Sea, and probably to the most northern Georgian islands. He cites Captain 

 Sabine as authority for its occurring as far north as latitude 74° on the west 

 coast of Greenland. Eichardson often met with it during his journeys over 

 the Barren Grounds, where its habitual prey was the Ptarmigan, and where 

 it also destroyed Plover, Ducks, and Geese. He relates that in the middle 

 of June, 1821, a pair of these birds attacked him as he was climbing to the 

 vicinity of their nest, which was built on a lofty precipice on the borders of 

 Point Lake, in latitude 65° 30'. The bird llew in circles, uttering loud and 

 harsh screams, stooping alternately w^ith such velocity that their motions 

 through the air produced a loud rushing noise. They struck their claws 

 within an inch or two of his head. Keeping the barrel of his gun close to 

 his cheek, and suddenly elevating its muzzle when they were in the act of 

 striking, he found that they invariably rose above the obstacle with the 

 rapidity of thought, showing equal power of motion. They bore consider- 

 able resemblance to the Snowy Owl, but their flight was much more rapid. 



]Mr. MacFarlane, in the memoranda of his collections in the neighborhood 

 of Anderson Eiver and Port Anderson, furnishes notes of eighteen nests of 

 the Gerfalcon obtained by him in that region. With only two exceptions, 

 these were placed near the tops of pines, or other trees, at distances from 

 the ground varying from ten to twenty-five feet. In some instances the nest 

 Avas placed on the very top of the tree, in others on' a lower limb against the 

 trunk. They were composed of twigs and small branches, and lined with 

 mosses, hay, deer's hair, feathers, and other substances. The parents were al- 

 ways very much excited whenever their nests were approached, making a great 

 noise, and not unfrequently their loud screams drew attention to nests that 

 would otherwise have escaped notice. In one instance a nest had been 

 built on a ledge of rocks thirty miles northwest of Port Anderson. It was 

 composed of a few witliered twigs, and lined with mosses and hay. It was 

 found on the 27th of May, and contained two eggs nearly fresh, and two in 

 a state of greater development. One nest, placed on a broad branch of a 

 tree, near the trunk, was of considerable size. Another nest was on the 

 ground, on tlie side of a steep and high hill. The earliest date of finding 

 these nests is given as the 10th of May. The eggs then found were fresh. 

 The ground at that time was still thickly covered with snow, and the 

 weather was very cold. In a nest found five days later the eggs contained 

 partially developed embryos. In nearly every instance the eggs seem 

 to have been in different stages of development in the same nest. In some, 

 young birds were in the same nest with eggs only partially developed, 

 and in another an egg perfectly fresh was in the same nest with others nearly 

 ready to hatch. A nest found July 3 contained young about two days old; 

 another, on May 27, had eggs with large embryos ; and one, on June 25, had 

 young nearly ready to fly. 



