18 



VERTEBRATA. 



\ 



THE WniTE FALCOX. 



articles, together with a part of the bones ; all these parts are left behind in the stomach, and are 

 vomited forth in the form of roundish pellets. This habit is common to many other birds, 

 especially shrikes, swallows, and others which feed on hard-winged insects. 



The strong feet of the falcons enable them to perch with great ease and security, and, when thus 

 roosting, they sit with the body nearly erect, and the head and neck drawn back in an attitude of 

 considerable elegance ; but on the ground the length and curvature of their claws render them 

 rather awkward; they incline the head and body forward, and are obliged to move by clumsy leaps, 

 with the assistance of their wings. 



The Falconidaj are generally solitary birds ; their cry is loud and shrill, sometimes becoming a 

 scream or yelp, and is usually a sign of anger or triumph. Their nests are rude, flat, and often of 

 large size ; they are composed of sticks, twigs, and similar materials, lined wnth hair, wool, or 

 feathers, in the part destined for the reception of the eggs. These vary in number from two to 

 six or eight; they are usually of a white color, and more or less spotted Avith dark tints. 



Genus FALCON : Falco. — This includes several species, and among them the celebrated birds 

 used in the falconry of the Middle Ages, and called Noble Falcons, in distinction from the other 

 species rtot employed in this pastime, and called Ignoble Falcons. 



The "White Falcon, F. candicans^ is of a pure white, with heart-shaped spots, and faint 

 transverse bands of a grayish-browMi color on the upper parts. The male* is eighteen inches 

 long, from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail. It lives on birds of considerable size, prin- 

 cipally those of the gallinaceous kinds. It inhabits the high polar regions of both hemispheres, 

 and was the proper Jer Falcon or Gyi- Falcon of the days of falconry; this and the Iceland falcon 

 were most esteemed by falconers on account of their capacity for education. It was formerly 

 obtained from Northern Europe, but it is now known to be found in Greenland and the Polar 

 Regions of North America ; and under the supposition that it was a distinct species, it has been 

 called the American Gyrfalcon and the F. Groenlandlcus. 



The Iceland FatuCO^, F. Islandicus, is larger than the preceding; it is brown above, barred 



* In speaking of the length of a bird we measure from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail ; if we mention the 

 length without naming the gender, we mean the largest, which, in the Raptores, is the female ; in most others the male. 



