BROWN AND WHITE JER-FALCONS. 21 
me nced before the rigours of an arctic winter have passed away and while the 
snow still lies deep upon the ground. The nest is composed of twigs 
and small branches, lined with moss, hay, deer’s hair, feathers, &c. Ac- 
cording to Audubon, it is built at an altitude of 100 feet, is very flat, 
2 feet in diameter, and made of sticks, seaweeds, and moss. At the nest 
the bird is very noisy and bold; and Richardson mentions an instance 
where the bird attacked him while he was plundering its home. 
As regards the nesting-economy of the Brown Jer-Falcon, Wolley was 
probably the first to give, from his own personal observations, particulars 
respecting it. In Scandinavia its breeding-season is much earlier than 
that of its American and arctic allies; and out of upwards of twenty nests 
observed by that enthusiastic naturalist in West Finmark, the eggs were 
almost all taken towards the end of April. The first nest he obtained was 
in a cliff, very flat and large, made out of bleached and barkless twigs, and 
lined with a bundle or two of dry grass. This nest contained four eggs, 
shghtly incubated. Another nest was under an overhanging rock, made 
of. fresh sticks, very large, and had the inside lined with willow-twigs 
and sedgy grass; other nests he saw contained feathers. On the 7th of 
June another nest came under his notice, which contained three young 
ones and an egg. The hen bird appeared with food in her talons at this 
nest. It was built in a recess a short distance from the ground, the downy 
young birds inside continually uttering a chirping cry. One egg of the 
Jer-Falcon was brought to Mr. Wolley, and was said to have been taken from 
a nest in a tree standing on the edge of a very large marsh. This nest 
suggests the theory that the Jer-Falcon accommodates itself to certain 
localities which contain its food; for the large marsh near the nest was 
probably its favourite hunting-ground. Wolley found near some of the . 
nests the bones of Whimbrels and Ptarmigans; and Audubon mentions 
that beneath the nests he found were wings of the Ptarmigan, Puffin, and 
Guillemot. Collet’s information, probably relating to East Finmark, differs 
somewhat from that quoted from Wolley; my Swedish friend says that 
the Brown Jer-Falcons almost invariably nest on the tops of large fir 
trees. 
The note of the bird when an intruder is at the nest is much like that 
of the Peregrine, and very loud, shrill, and piercing. 
The eggs of the Jer-Falcon are usually four in number, sometimes only 
three. The ground-colour is creamy white; but usually the markings 
entirely conceal it from view. They are closely freckled and spotted with 
orange-brown, rich reddish brown, and bricky red. Many eggs of this 
bird closely resemble typical Hobby’s eggs; others approximate more nearly 
to certain varieties of the Peregrine. Ina large series in my collection, 
however, I do not find that the eggs are ever so dark as those of some 
other British Falcons, and the markings are very evenly dispersed, some- 
