BROWN AND WHITE JER-FALCONS. 21 



me need before the rigours of an arctic winter have passed away and while the 

 snow still lies deep upon the ground. The nest is composed of twigs 

 and small branches, lined with moss, hay, deer's hair, feathers, &c. Ac- 

 cording to Audubon, it is built at an altitude of 100 feet, is very flat, 

 2 feet in diameter, and made of sticks, seaweeds, and moss. At the nest 

 the bird is very noisy and bold ; and Richardson mentions an instance 

 where the bird attacked him while he was plundering its home. 



As regards the nesting-economy of the Brown Jer-Falcon, Wolley was 

 probably the first to give, from his own personal observations, particulars 

 respecting it. In Scandinavia its breeding-season is much earlier than 

 that of its American and arctic allies ; and out of upwards of twenty nests 

 observed by that enthusiastic naturalist in West Finmark, the eggs were 

 almost all taken towards the end of April. The first nest he obtained was 

 in a cliff, veiy flat and large, made out of bleached and barkless twigs, and 

 lined with a bundle or two of dry grass. This nest contained four eggs, 

 slightly incubated. Another nest was under an overhanging rock, made 

 of fresh sticks, very large, and had the inside lined with willow-twigs 

 and sedgy grass ; other nests he saw contained feathers. On the 7th of 

 June another nest came under his notice, which contained three young 

 ones and an egg. The hen bird appeared with food in her talons at this 

 nest. It was built in a recess a short distance from the ground, the downy 

 young birds inside continually uttering a chirping cry. One egg of the 

 Jer-Falcon was brought to Mr. Wolley, and was said to have been taken from 

 a nest in a tree standing on the edge of a very large marsh. This nest 

 suggests the theory that the Jer-Falcon accommodates itself to certain 

 localities which contain its food ; for the large marsh near the nest was 

 probably its favourite hunting-ground. Wolley found near some of the 

 nests the bones of Whimbrels and Ptarmigans ; and Audubon mentions 

 that beneath the nests he found were wings of the Ptarmigan, Puffin, and 

 Guillemot. Collet's information, probably relating to East Finmark, differs 

 somewhat from that quoted from Wolley ; my Swedish friend says that 

 the Brown Jer-Falcons almost invariably nest on the tops of large fir 

 trees. 



The note of the bird when an intruder is at the nest is much like that 

 of the Peregrine, and very loud, shrill, and piercing. 



The eggs of the Jer-Falcon are usually four in number, sometimes only 

 three. The ground-colour is creamy white; but usually the markings 

 entirely conceal it from view. They are closely freckled and spotted with 

 orange-brown, rich reddish brown, and bricky red. Many eggs of this 

 bird closely resemble typical Hobby's eggs ; others approximate more nearly 

 to certain varieties of the Peregrine. In a large series in my collection, 

 however, I do not find that the eggs are ever so dark as those of some 

 other British Falcons, and the markings are very evenly dispersed, some- 



