THE GYR-FALCONS. 



I 97 



a Falconer's point of view, I have had but a very slight 

 acquaintance with the Iceland Falcon, and am not inclined to 

 rate her highly, but it must be borne in mind that all the birds 

 of this species trained in this country have necessarily had the 

 great disadvantage of a sea-passage, and, in many instances, 

 have arrived so much damaged in plumage that they could 

 not be put on the wing till the first moult, and all Falconers 

 know how much Hawks suffer from a lengthened period of 

 inactivity. Our ancestors seem, however, to have esteemed 

 the Icelanders highly; there are traditions of their being 

 trained to take the Kite, and in more recent days a few of 

 these Falcons were flown at Herons in the Netherlands with 

 success. ... In disposition this Falcon seems to be 

 tameable enough, but by no means remarkable for docility, of 

 a somewhat sluggish temperament, and it is by no means so 

 hardy as might be expected from the climatic conditions of the 

 country of its origin." 



Nest. Placed on the ledges of cliffs, and formed of twigs 

 and dead sticks, and lined with wool. Mr. Proctor said, of 

 those he found in Iceland, that they much resembled the 

 nests of the Raven. The old nests of that bird are probably 

 often utilised by the Gyr- Falcon. 



Eggs. Four in number, the ground-colour being dull white, 

 but scarcely visible on account of the closeness of the rufous 

 clouding in many specimens, which renders the general 

 appearance of the eggs almost uniform rufous. Other eggs 

 are whity-brown, mottled and blotched with reddish-brown, 

 principally near the larger end. Axis, 2-2-2-4 ; diam., 1-8-1-9. 



III. THE GREY GYR-FALCON. HIEROFALCO GYRFALCO. 



Falco gyrfalco, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 130 (1766); Dresser, B. 



Eur. vi. p. 15, -pi. 367 (1875); Seebohm, Br. B. i. p. 16 



(1883); Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 334 (1889); Lilford, 



Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxx. (1895). 

 Hierofalco gyrfaJco, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. i. p. 416 (1874) ; 



B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 101 (1883). 



Adult Male Above blue-grey, with broad greyish-black cross- 

 bands, the bars in alternate series of black and grey ; lower 



