48 FALCONID.E. 



apparatus does not vary in accordance with its length, being 

 occasionally absolutely broadest in the Gyr-Falcon ; and, 

 further, that the disproportion is chiefly caused by the elon- 

 gation of the coracoid bones in the Icelander, where the 

 sternum alone has an average length of 3*65608 in., against 

 3 '47 143 in. in the true Gyr-Falcon. 



As a constant inhabitant of Europe, the Iceland Falcon is 

 only known in the island whence it takes its name, and is 

 there by no means uncommon, breeding in precipitous cliffs 

 or ranges of rock bordering the numerous lakes, which are 

 thronged during the summer by innumerable water-fowl, and 

 thereby securing a plentiful supply of food for its offspring, 

 though it is stated that Ptarmigans form the chief prey of 

 the adults, and such of the young as pass the winter in that 

 country, when it is comparatively deserted by aquatic birds. 

 Most of the young, however, wander southward at that 

 season, and examples annually visit the Faeroes, Norway, 

 Denmark, Germany, and Holland. In the British Islands, 

 more probably have occurred than is the case with the 

 Greenland Falcon, but of the many so-called " Gyr-Falcons " 

 recorded as seen or taken here, the number which can be 

 with certainty determined to be Icelanders is perhaps rather 

 fewer possibly the less conspicuous plumage of the latter 

 does not attract so much attention. 



In the Shetlands, Dr. Saxby states that though formerly a 

 regular visitor, it is now only occasionally seen. Mr. Robert 

 Gray says that, between 1835 and 1851, several were shot in 

 the northern counties of Scotland, and that within the last 

 four years he is satisfied that four or five have been killed in 

 the western parts of that kingdom. An Iceland Falcon, 

 which had for some time haunted a farm-yard, preying on 

 the poultry, was shot on Vallay, one of the outer Hebrides, 

 in September, 1865. This bird is in the collection of Dr. 

 Dewar of Glasgow. Another, a fine male, was shot in the 

 October of the preceding year in North Uist, and a third was 

 about the same time washed ashore on the west side of that 

 island. Mr. Gray also learned from Mr. Elwes that a fourth 

 was shot on Islay, and mentions one that was trapped in 



