128 In North- West Canada. 



tliese eg^s were taken was built on the ledge of a cliti", and was 

 madeof sticks,and lined with grass and feathers. Another clutch 

 of three eggs were taken in Montana, June 2nd, 1887. One of 

 the eggs has a creamy liuff ground, and the ground colour of 

 the other two is a light red, and they are clouded and spotted 

 with brown of various shades. Like eggs of the Iceland gyr 

 falcon, the eggs in a clutch vary as much one from another as 

 to appear to have not been laid by the same bird. I saw sev- 

 eral prairie falcons at Rush Lake. They possess great strength 

 and daring, and are said to attack and overpower the hares of 

 the west, animals larger and heavier than themselves. 



The gyr falcon is frequently seen in winter in Manitoba, and 

 I saw a line specimen in Winnipeg that was shot last Novem- 

 ber. They breed around the coast of Hudson's Bay, and also 

 in the interior regions of Arctic America, and around Great 

 Slave Lake. Sir John Richardson states that this species is a 

 constant resident in the Hudson's Bay Territories, and mentions 

 tlie following incident : — 



" In the middle of June, a pair of these birds attacked me 

 as I was climbing to their nest, which was built on a lofty 

 precipice on the borders of Point Lake, in latitude 65i . 

 They flew in circles, uttering loud and harsh screams, and 

 alternately swooping with such velocity that their motion 

 through the air produced a loud, rushing noise ; they struck 

 their claws within an inch or two of my head. I endeavored, 

 by keeping the barrel of my gun close to my cheek, and sud- 

 denly elevating its muzzle when they were in the act of 

 striking, to ascertain whether they had the power of instan- 

 taneously changing the direction of their rapid course, and 

 found that they invariably rose above the obstacle with the 

 (juickness of thought, showing equal acuteness of vision and 

 power of motion. Although their flight was much more 

 rapid, they bore considerable resemblance to the snowy owl." 



This species breeds in Norway, Sweden and Lapland, as 

 well as in Arctic America. I have three clutches that were 

 taken in Lapland. The nests are placed in cliflfs and made of 

 sticks, grass and feathers of sea birds. They lay from two to 



