20 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



all their attempts upon its life, rising sometimes straight into the 

 air within sight of them all, and wending its flight to a less danger- 

 ous part of the river, until one morning, after catching a perch, it 

 alighted upon a board nailed to a pole as a warning to trespassers; 

 then it flew, carrying the fish, to the top of a monumental pillar in 

 the adjoining churchyard, where it forfeited its life. Mr Brown 

 informs me that the poor bird, under a pressure of hunger, no doubt, 

 was seen some days previously making a dash at some fowls in a 

 poultry yard. 



It would appear that there are but slender grounds for drawing a 

 distinction between this bird and the Pandion Carolinensis of North 

 America. In speaking of the latter species, the late Mr Cassin, in 

 Professor Baird's work on the " Birds of North America," says: 

 " There are no appreciable specific differences between specimens 

 from all parts of North America, and, we may be allowed to add, 

 very slight between those of this country and of Europe and Asia." 

 Mr J. H. Gurney an excellent authority in a communication to 

 the Ibis for 1867 (vol. iii., N. S., p. 465), writes even more con- 

 clusively as follows: " The Norwich Museum possesses an exten- 

 sive series of Ospreys from various parts of the world; and I have 

 no hesitation in expressing my belief that the species is identical, 

 not only on the coasts of North America and of Europe, but also 

 on those of Africa, Asia, and Australia." To these opinions I may, 

 however, add that so far as I have been able to judge, the eggs of 

 the American bird are invariably much richer in colour than any 

 I have seen taken from the nests of British Ospreys. 



A specimen of the Osprey, now before me, was shot near Dun- 

 bar a few years ago, and preserved by my friend, Mr W. Sinclair. 



THE GEEENLAND FALCON. 



FALCO CANDICANS. 



Although a rare bird, the Gyr Falcon, as this species has been 

 called, has frequently been met with in Scotland. It is mentioned 

 by Sir Robert Sibbald in his " Historia Animalium in Scotia," p. 

 14, forming a section of his " Scotia Illustrata," etc., published in 

 1684, and is next referred to by Pennant in the appendix to his 

 "Tour in Scotland," 8vo. edition, 1772, p. 292, where he says: 

 " The Gyr Falcon has been shot in Aberdeenshire. A large white 



