JEK FALCONS. 253 



spotted white; underneath, yellowish white, with brown 

 heart or lancet-shaped spots. Young bird brown above ; 

 below yellowish- white, with brown longitudinal streaks. 

 The old female has white ground colour, but the transverse 

 dark brown bands on the upper part of the body, as well as 

 the longitudinal spots on the lower parts, are more numerous 

 and larger. It is often from three to four inches longer than 

 the male." 



' ' It belongs," he says, ' ' to the northern part of the world, 

 and in summer frequents rocky and wild lands, such as Ice- 

 land, Norway, Lapland, the north of Sweden, the north of 

 America, and Greenland. The old birds are stationary; on 

 the contrary, the young birds in the winter often migrate to 

 more southern lands ; and, as far as I know, those that are 

 shot in Denmark are only young individuals ." 



In his appendix he notices the Greenland falcon and the 

 Fal. Gyrfalco (Schleg.) thus : 



ff Jagtfallt. F. Candicans, Gmel. This white falcon 

 belongs to Greenland and North America. It is doubtful 

 whether that which breeds in Iceland, and is in general 

 larger, and seldom becomes so white, belongs to this. 

 Brehm, Hancock, and Keyserling and Blasius,have considered 

 them as distinct species. Schlegel, who above all has 

 studied the falcons, finds all the specific distinctions between 

 the two as valueless, and applicable at times to both. 

 According to his opinion, the only difference is in the colour. 

 In the mature Greenland falcon the head, neck, and under 

 parts, as well as the tail (sometimes), are pure white. On 

 the upper parts of the body the ground colour is also white, 

 and the dark colour appears on the back and wings in the 

 shape of heart-formed drops or imperfect transverse bands. 

 The beak is often very yellow ; the feet are sometimes pale 

 yellow, or even retain their blueish colour after the bird has 

 assumed its white dress. In the immature Iceland falcon 

 the tail has dark and white transverse bands. The breast 

 and the under tail coverts have small dark streaks. The 

 drop, and heart-formed spots form on the belly and sides 

 small transverse bands. The pale spots on the upper parts 



