FALCON 237 
tralia. In the United Kingdom it was formerly very common, and 
hardly a high rock from the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight but had 
a pair as its tenants. But the British gamekeeper has long held 
the mistaken faith that it is his worst foe, and the number of pairs 
which are now allowed to rear their brood unmolested in these 
islands must be small indeed. Yet its utility to the game- 
preserver, by destroying those of his precious wards that shew any 
sign of infirmity, can hardly be questioned by reason, and no one 
has more earnestly urged its claims to protection than Mr. 
G. E. Freeman (Falconry &c. p. 10).!_ Nearly allied to this Falcon 
are several species of which it is impossible here to treat at length, 
such as F, barbarus of Mauritania, F. minor of South Africa, the 
Asiatic F, babylonicus, F. peregrinator of India—the “Shaheen,” and 
perhaps /*. cassini of South America, with some others. 
Next to the typical Falcon comes a group known as the “ great 
northern” Falcons (Hierofalco). Of these the most remarkable is 
the GYRFALCON, J’. gyrfalco, whose home is in the Scandinavian 
mountains, though the young are yearly visitants to the plains of 
Holland and Germany. In plumage it very much resembles F. 
peregrinus, 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. islandus, which externally differs in its paler colour- 
ing, and in almost entirely wanting the black mandibular patch. 
Its proportions, however, differ a good deal, its body being elongated. 
Its country is shewn by its name, but it also inhabits South Green- 
land, and not unfrequently makes its way to the British Islands. 
Very close to this comes the Greenland Falcon, F. candicans, a 
native of North Greenland, and perhaps of other countries within 
the Arctic circle. Like the last, the Greenland Falcon from time 
to time occurs in the United Kingdom, but it is always to be dis- 
tinguished by wearing a plumage in which at every age the prevail- 
ing colour is pure white. In North-Eastern America these birds 
are replaced by a kindred form, F. labradorus, first detected by 
Audubon,’ and lately recognized by Mr. Dresser (Orn. Miscell. i. p. 
1 It is not to be inferred, however, as many writers have done, that Falcons 
habitually prey upon birds in which disease has made any serious progress. Such 
birds meet their fate from the less noble Accipitres, or predatory animals of many 
kinds, their death being often caused by the parasites which infest them, for no 
sooner is the condition of their ‘‘ host” lowered than they gain an increased power 
and multiply in numbers. But when a bird is first affected by any disorder, its 
power of taking care of itself is at once impaired, and hence in the majority of 
cases it may become an easy victim under circumstances which would enable a 
perfectly sound bird to escape from the attack even of a Falcon. 
2 Recent American authors call this form #. sacer, identifying it with the 
‘Speckled Partridge-Hawk” of J. R. Forster (Phil. Trans. |xii. p. 383) which 
he wrongly referred to the ‘‘ Sacre” of Brisson (Orn. i. p. 337), though stating 
that its “irides are yellow”, a fact which shews it to have been a Gos-hawk! 
