144 THE FALCONS 



traversing snowy wastes without alarming their prey. Ptarmigan 

 when struck at endeavour to escape by diving instantly into the loose 

 snow, making their way beneath for a considerable distance. Alpine 

 hares and lemmings make up no inconsiderable portion of their food 

 in N.E. Greenland, and the pursuit thereof keeps them in constant 

 enmity with the raven,' which also feeds largely on the lemming in 

 these regions. And curiously enough the raven commonly gains the 

 mastery, unless two or more falcons combine against the common 

 enemy. For an account of their breeding haunts we are mainly 

 indebted to Manniche's brief notes. 1 He found the eyries of this 

 bird all placed so as to face north, for the sake of the midnight sun. 

 And round each were enormous heaps of excrement forming ledges of 

 yellowish white, visible at a great distance. The bottom of the nest 

 seems always to be made up of excrement. As to the part played by 

 the two sexes during incubation, and in the care of the young, he says 

 nothing. And no other authors seem to have made observations on 

 this point. 



Of our four breeding species the peregrine is the largest, the 

 merlin the smallest. The kestrel, which is the species with which 

 most of us are familiar, differs from the other in its red coloration. 

 In all, the female is the larger, though the disparity between the sexes 

 in the kestrel is hardly appreciable, while in the peregrine it is con- 

 spicuous. In the matter of the coloration of the sexes it is signifi- 

 cant that in the hobby they scarcely differ, while in the merlin they 

 are very different. Very old females of the peregrine and the kestrel 

 make a close approximation in coloration to their respective mates. 

 These facts bear out the law of succession of plumages which Darwin 

 was the first to indicate, to wit, that new characters are first acquired 

 by the male, then by the female, and finally by the young. 



In their habits these four species present some interesting 

 contrasts. The peregrine haunts indifferently the wildest moors and 

 mountains and sea-girt cliffs. In our islands unrelenting persecution 



1 Matmiche, A. V. L., The Terrestrial Mammals and Birds of N.E. Greenland, p. 183. 



