GYR-FALCON. 33 



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 particu- 

 larly 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- 

 surement one inch seven-eighths ; both are mottled nearly 

 all over with pale reddish brown on a dull white ground ; 

 they are larger than those of the Peregrine Falcon, but 



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

 VOL. I. D 



