JEE FALCONS. 251 



the usual colour of even the young Iceland falcon ; moreover 

 I always fancy that there is a considerable difference in the 

 size of the birds. 



In the winter they occasionally wander down from the fells, 

 for I have seen a specimen which was shot in Wermland, 

 apparently in its second year, and there was a marked 

 difference between this and a young Iceland falcon with 

 which I compared it. This falcon, in fact, more resembles 

 the peregrine, although I certainly never saw the plumage 

 so dark as in this latter bird. It has moreover, no white 

 on the nape of the neck, and the moustache is not nearly 

 BO perceptible. 



The egg resembles that of the Iceland falcon precisely, 

 perhaps a trifle smaller. I have seen them quite brick-dust 

 red, and again much more highly coloured. They breed 

 in the fells, generally on the ledge of a rock, and the full 

 number of eggs is three. 



NOTE. As this list is intended principally for a guide to 

 the collector and field naturalist, I shall endeavour, as far as I 

 am able, to describe correctly the breeding habits of many 

 species of birds, as well as the nest, number, size, and colour 

 of the eggs, from my own observation. This latter, how- 

 ever, is no easy task, for although a man may be able to give 

 a good general description of an egg, yet all coloured eggs 

 are liable to so much variation, that, with but few excep- 

 tions, I will defy a man, in one description, or even in one 

 coloured engraving, to give such a representation of an egg 

 as can be safely relied on. I have now collected in the 

 North for upwards of ten years. Ornithology and oology 

 have been my principal studies, and although during that 

 time thousands of eggs have passed through my hands, in- 

 cluding (with perhaps the exception of a dozen or so of the 

 very rarest species) all the birds that breed in Scandinavia, 

 I have never yet been able to form a good type collection. 

 All that I can do, therefore, is to describe the egg as it 

 most usually appears when fresh. It is nearly impossible 

 to give an accurate measurement of the egg of any bird. 

 The number stated is always, as far as I know, the general 



