Birds of Prey. 



tunately without doing her any injury. This White- 

 tailed Eagle is more common than the Golden Eagle, 

 for which it is often mistaken when it has not attained 

 to its mature plumage. 



The GER or GYR-FALCON (Falco gyrfalcd) is the 

 largest of the true Falcons, and is very rarely to be 

 met with in England. The Greenland and Iceland 

 Falcons used to be purchased at a very high price, on 

 account of their great courage and strength, to fly at 

 birds of large size, such as cranes, herons, and wild 

 geese. They are by nature so fierce and wild that it 

 was much more difficult to train and tame them than 

 the PEREGRINE FALCON (Falco per egrinus), of whom 

 good old Izaak Walton writes : " In the air, my noble, 

 generous Falcon ascends to such a height as the 

 dull eyes of beasts and fish are not able to reach to : 

 their bodies are too gross for such high elevation ; but 

 from which height I can make her descend by a word 

 from my mouth, which she both knows and obeys, to 

 accept of meat from my hand, to own me for her 

 master, to go home with me, and be willing the next 

 day to afford me the like recreation." Its name is 

 derived from its wandering propensities. It has been 

 found in all parts of the world, and has extraordinary 

 powers of flight, extending its range over the northern 

 parts of both hemispheres, and being met with in 

 America, India, and at the Cape of Good Hope, as 

 well as in Europe. In Scotland and Ireland it makes 



