38 FALCONID^. 



The specimen from which Mr. Bewick took his repre- 

 sentation of the Gyr-Falcon is now in good condition in 

 the Museum of Natural History at Newcastle -upon-Tyne, 

 although it must have been preserved more than fifty 

 years. This bird was given at that time to Mr. Tunstall 

 by the then Lord Orford, of sporting notoriety, who had 

 used it for many years in catching hares, rabbits, &c. It 

 came from Iceland.* 



In reference to keeping this rare species from year to 

 year, Sir John Sebright, in his Observations on Hawking, 

 says " As it is difficult to procure Icelanders and Gyr- 

 Falcons, these valuable birds are well worth mewing 

 (putting to moult) ; but as Peregrine Falcons and Gos- 

 hawks are easily obtained, much trouble and expense 

 will be saved by getting young birds every year ; and 

 as these do not cast their wing and tail-feathers the 

 first year, they will be in order to fly in the autumn, 

 when the older birds will be in moult." When kept for 

 flying over their moult, they are then called Intermewed 

 Hawks. 



The Peregrine Falcon being much more numerous as 

 a species, and much more easily procured, was more parti- 

 cularly the object of the falconer's care and tuition ; and 

 in the history of that bird, which follows next in the 

 series, a few observations on the powers of flight and the 

 mode of using the Falcons will be introduced. 



From the great strength and courage of the Gyr- 

 Falcon, it was usual to fly them at birds of large size ; 

 such as Cranes, Storks, Herons, and Wild Geese. 



The Gyr-Falcon is said to build annually on the rocky 



coasts of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. Two eggs in 



my own collection I believe to belong to this species : the 



length is two inches and three -eighths, the transverse mea- 



* G. T. Fox, Esq., Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum, p. 52. 



