184 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



wounded ducks and other birds, and feeds on putrid fish and flesh. 

 Florida seems to be a favorite breeding ground of the Bald Eagle, 

 where they nest usually in January, but in the extreme southern por- 

 tions — Cape Sable and the Keys in that region — they breed in Decem- 

 ber. The nests are massive structures, made of sticks, lined with roots 

 or grass ; they are placed in trees, and their distance from the ground 

 ranges from twenty to ninety feet. On rocky coasts, destitute of suit- 

 able trees, this Eagle resorts to the cliff for nesting places, and the same 

 eyrie is occupied for many years. The eggs are two, rarely three in num- 

 ber, and are white, or ivory-white, unmarked, usually with a granu- 

 lated surface and nest-stained. Three sets of two eggs each are in Mr. 

 Norris' collection ; one from Merritt's Island, Florida, taken Decem- 

 ber 13, 1883, measure 2.79X 2.21, 2.74 x 2.09 ; another from Stone Island, 

 Maine, collected April 21, 1887, measure 2.88x2.15, 2.94x2.13; the 

 third from Tampa, Florida, taken December 3, 1884, give the follow- 

 ing dimensions: 2.70 x 2.12. 2.70x2.10. Four sets in my cabinet, col- 

 lected by Mr, R. C. Stuart at Cape Sable, December i, 4 and 16, ex- 

 hibit the following sizes by sets: First, 2.57x2.12, 2.98x2.22; 

 second, 2.89x2.15, 2.91x2.17; third, 2.73x2.09, 2.63x2.02; fourth, 

 2.51 X 1.94, 2.51 X 2.00. These eggs were taken from huge nests, placed 

 in mangrove trees, twenty to thirty-five feet from the ground. 



353. Falco islandus Brunn. [412,] 



"WMte Gyrfalcon. 



Hab. Arctic regions, including Arctic America and Greenland. 



The Gyrfalcons are large handsome birds and are found in various 

 phases of plumage, being white, more or less barred and spotted with 

 brownish and black. They are birds of boreal regions, and nest in 

 trees or cliffs, preying upon the smaller quadrupeds, grouse, ducks, 

 auks, etc. The adult of the present species averages as white as the 

 Snowy Owl. It is called Greenland Gyrfalcon and breeds in Green- 

 land and other portions of Arctic America. 



Dr. Stejneger states that this species breeds on Bering Island. A 

 pair had their nest in a steep and inaccessible rock, a couple of miles 

 from the main village. 



Mr. Norris has a set of three eggs collected in Southern Green- 

 land, by G. N. Proctor, May 26, 1884; the eggs were taken from 

 a nest on a ledge of rocks. They measure, respectively, 2.14x1.81, 

 2.19x1.80, 2.17x1.81. The ground color is creamy-white, with the 

 markings of reddish-brown distributed over the surface ; in one speci- 

 men the specks and spots form an indistinct circle near the large end. 

 The eggs are said to be two to four in number. 



