OF NEW ENGLAND. 347 
ing, fall with a very certain aim, immediately rising, should 
they fail, but, if successful, feeding upon the spot. Their 
motions are characterized by ease and lightness, but their 
wings seein too long for rapid motion. The Marsh Hawks 
generally leave New England in autumn, and return in April. 
In summer they are among the commonest of our hawks. 
(d). Their love-note is an indescribable scream, which is 
not, however, wholly characteristic, though distinct from any 
of the buzzards. Their winter-notes, says Audubon, ‘are 
sharp, and sound like the syllables pee, pee, pee, the first 
slightly pronounced, the last louder, much prolonged, and 
ending plaintively.” 
II. FALCO x 
(A) eyrratco. Gyrfalcon. Gerfalcon. (Jerfalcon.) 
(In Massachusetts, an extremely rare winter- visitor.) 
(a). About twenty-four inches long. Everywhere white, 
much marked with dark brown or black. Of several races, 
variety islandicus is said to be the only one which occurs in 
New England. In this form, white is especially predominant 
on the head. 
(b). The eggs are said to measure about 2°40 & 1°70 of an 
‘inch, and to be much less darkly marked than those of the 
Duck Hawk. The nests are built on cliffs. 
(c). Audubon describes as follows their habits in Labrador: 
“Their flizht resembled that of the Peregrine Falcon, but was 
more elevated, majestic, and rapid. They rarely sailed when 
travelling to and fro, but used a constant beat of their wings. 
When over the Puffins, and high in the air, they would hover 
almost motionless, as if watching the proper moment to close 
their pinions, and when that arrived, they would descend al- 
most perpendicularly on their unsuspecting victims. 
“Their cries also resembled those of the Peregrine Falcon, 
being loud, shrill, and piercing. Now and then they would 
alight on some of the high stakes placed on the shore as bea- 
cons to the fishermen who visit the coast, and stand for a few 
minutes, not erect like most other Hawks, but in the position 
