FALCONS. 311 



Atiieriea it nlniost invarial)Iy nests on lodges of rocks in precipitous places, rarely 

 making nuicli of a nest, ami sometimes laying its handsome eggs on the bare rock, or 

 in a slight hollow scratched in the debris of the ledge. These are three or four in 

 number, usually so heavily blotched with chocolate and red-brown as to entirely 

 obscure the ground color, which, when visible, is creamy white. 



Although ordinarily nesting as above, it has been known exceptionally to Vireed in 

 trees, Mr. N. S. Goss having given an account of his observations on several jpairs 

 which he found nesting in the timber along the banks of the Neosho River in Kansas. 

 In fine case, three eggs were found in a large sycamore, about fifty feet from the 

 uround, "laid on the fine, soft, rotten wood in a trough-like cavity formed by the 

 breaking off of a hollow limb near the body of the tree." Another pair was found 

 nesting in a knot-hole in a cottonwood, and still another in a hollow limb of a giant 

 sycamore. 



The general colors of the adult bird are dark bluish ash above, almost black on 

 the head, lighter on the tail. Below, creamy wliito, barred, except on chin and 

 throat, with black, while a large black patch extends from the bill backwanl beneath 

 the eye, and downward under the bill. The young are more brownish above, and are 

 streaked longitudinally instead of barred below, said to be a characteristic of all the 

 larger and tyjiical falcons before the first real moult. Another point which some 

 systematists make much of, and which was reeogni/ed centuries ago by falconers, is 

 the fact that in all true falcons, the iris is brown, and usually quite dark. This 

 is probably true of all members of the genus Fako, including all the sub-genera 

 exee]pt Tinttunctdas, in which group some species have yellow irides. But these 

 yellow-eyed birds differ much from their relatives, and seem to have lost most of the 

 sjiirit of the true falcons. 



The largest an<l finest of all the falcons are the gyrfalcons, confined to the colder 

 portions of the northern hemisphere. Just how many species there are is still 

 unsettled ; some naturalists recognize four distinct but nearly related species ; others 

 believe in only a single eircmnpolar s])eeies, in which they consider it difficult if not 

 impossible to distinguish geographical races. Tiie four forms, be they species or 

 races, are certainly very nnich alike in all but color of plumage, and this is extremely 

 variable even in individuals belonging to the same 'race.' 



These forms are thus treated by Professor Xewton : "Next to the typical Falcons 

 comes a group known as the 'great northern' falcons {Ilicrof(dco). Of these the 

 most remarkable is the gyrfalcon, F. gyrfalco, whose home is in the Scandinavian 

 mountains, though the young are yearly vishants to the ])laius of Holland and (Jer- 

 many. In jilumage it very nuich resembles F. iicreijrhiuii, but its flanks have generally 

 a bluer tinge, and its superiority in size is at once manifest. Nearly allied to it is the 

 Icelander, F. Uhmdiis, which externally differs in its ]>aler coloring, and in almost 

 entirely wanting the black mandibular patch. Its ]iroportions, however, differ a good 

 deal, its body being elongated. Its country is shown by its name, but it also inhabits 

 South Greenlaiiil, and not imfreqiiently makes its way to the British Islands. V'ery 

 close to tJiis comes the Greenland falcon, /"■. cundicans, a native of Nortii Greenland, 

 aiul perhaps of other countries within the Arctic circle. Like the last, the (Jreeuland 

 falcon from time to time occui-s in the United Kingdom, but it is always to be distin- 

 guished by wearing a jilumage in which at every age the prev.iiling color is |)uro white. 

 In northeastern America these birds are replacecl by a kindred form, F. lafiradonu, 

 first detected l)y Audubon, and lately recognized by Mr. Dresser. It is at oneo di»- 



