278 HISTORY OF THE 



quill. Tarsus never with a single series of transverse scutellae either in front 

 or behind; middle toe very long." 



SUBGENUS HIEROFALCO CUVIER. 



"One primary only with inner web ernarginatecl; first to second longest; 

 first longer than fourth. Tarsus longer than middle toe, and feathered far be- 

 low the knee; first quill shorter than third. Coloration of the sexes alike; old 

 and young slightly differenl in pattern and tints. Size large." 



Falco rusticolus 



GRAY GYRFALCON. 



An accidental winter visitant; captured near Manhattan, De- 

 cember 1st, 1880, by A. L. Runyan, and reported to me by Dr. 

 C. P. Blachly, who has the bird (a fine specimen) in his collec- 

 tion. 



B. 12. R. 412a. C. 500. G. 190, 130. TJ. 354. 



HABITAT. Northern North America, including Iceland, and 

 southern Greenland; south in winter to the northern borders of 

 the United States, also extreme northern portion of Europe (ex- 

 cept Scandinavia) and Asia. 



SP. CHAR. Lower tail coverts always more or less marked with dusky; up- 

 per parts with little, if any, white (except sometimes on top of head and hind- 

 neck). Adult with upper parts banded with dusky and bluish gray (sometimes 

 uniform dusky anteriorly), the flanks and thighs barred, banded or transversely 

 spotted with dusky. Young without transverse bars on upper parts (except 

 sometimes on tail), and lower parts with all the markings longitudinal. Lighter 

 colored: Top of head much streaked with white, often with white prevailing, 

 the lighter tail bands usually whitish and nearly as broad as the darker inter- 

 spaces. Adult: With anterior upper parts everywhere more or less distinctly 

 barred with very pale grayish, grayish white or buffy whitish, these lighter bars 

 sometimes nearly equal in width to the darker ones; darker and lighter bands 

 on tail usually very sharply contrasted, the former often slate gray, the latter 

 pale ash gray or dull whitish; flanks and thighs never very heavily banded or 

 spotted with slaty, but always more or less marked with this color. Young: 

 Dark stripes of lower parts usually decidedly narrower than white interspaces; 

 upper parts in general usually much spotted with whitish or light buffy, in ad- 

 dition to the lighter margins (often conspicuous) to the feathers; outer webs of 

 quills more or less distinctly spotted with whitish toward base. Male: Length, 

 about 20.00 to 21.00; wing, 13.40 to 15.00 (14.10); tail, 8.00 to 9.30 (8.51); cul- 

 men, .88 to .98 (.90); tarsus, 2.10 to 2.65 (2.40); middle toe, 1.80 to 2.20 (1.96). 

 Female: Length, about 22.00 to 24.50; wing, 15.25 to 16.50 (15.76); tail, 9.10 to 

 10.50 (9.72); culmeu, .95 to 1.10 (1.01); tarsus, 2.30 to 2.60 (2.46); middle toe, 

 1.98 to 2.15 (2.08). Eggs, 2.37x1.72. (Ridgway.) 



I have never had the pleasure of meeting with this large, 

 handsome species. In flight they are said to be even swifter 



