82 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



troiible. In winter they subsist wholly on ptarmigans and hares. Gov- 

 ernor Feneker, during his long residence in ^Northern Greenland, has had 

 good opportunities for studying this bird, and he thinks there is but one 

 species inhabiting the country, having known of instances where the 

 parents of a nest represented the two extremes of plumage. Nor does 

 the difference seem to be sexual, seasonal, or altogether dependent upon 

 age, but more probably partaking of that remarkable phenomenon famil- 

 iar in Scops asio. 



During my frequent excursions about Disko Island I often had an 

 opportunity of witnessing this hawk preying upon jaegers, kittiwakes. 

 &c., but was surprised that they are not possessed of swifter flight. A 

 duck hawk would have made a short job of catching a kittiwake that 

 one of these hawks followed till he fairly tired the bird out. Their suc- 

 cess seems to depend more upon a stubborn perseverance than alacrity 

 of flight. The flesh of the young birds is by no means despicable food, 

 and is highly prized by the Danish colonists. 



23. Falco communis, Gm. 



A regular breeder in Cumberland. Usually found about the Eider 

 Islands. Procured nearly full-fledged young in August that were taken 

 from the nest on a high cliff in the Greater King wan Fjord. 



24. Astur atricapillus, (Wils.) Jard. 



A single specimen, at Mantilic, September 19, 1877. 



25. Haliaetus albicilla, Liiine". 



' ' Netkoralik, " Greenl anders . 



I saw this eagle at American Harbor, in October, 1877, at two differ- 

 ent times. In the spring of 1878 I often noticed a pair that finally 

 built a nest on a high but not inaccessible cliff in Kingwah Fjord. I 

 could have shot the birds, but waited until I should be able to procure 

 the eggs, and then get the birds. Unfortunately the wind set in from 

 the south, and I could not get near the place on account of ice till the 

 Florence set sail for the Greenland coast. Enough was ascertained, 

 however, to show that this bird does breed on the western shores of 

 Davis Straits, although probably sparingly. On the coast of Green- 

 land it is by no means uncommon. Eggs were procured from Claushavn 



through the kindness of Governor E. Feneker. 







26. Lagopus albus, (Gmel.) And. 



"Akagik" (both species), Cumberland Eskimo. 



Very few ptarmigan were found about our winter harbor ; but, from 

 the Eskimo accounts, they are quite common in the larger valleys, where 



