KAI,("0.\II),K — THE FALCONS. ] ] () 



Gerfalcon ol' the McKeiizie l{iver region, occnirring from the Slave Lake to 

 Anderson Iiiver and the Yuknn, is the form elsewhere given as the F.fiarc): 

 Along our eastern (^oast region occurs another form, the /'. lahvuddva, which 

 is the hird met witli in Labrador, and descrihed liy Mr. Audiihon. The /'. 

 citwIicdHii or (jni'Jiliintliiiifi is a form i)eeuliar to CJreenland, visiting also, in 

 the winter, the Hudson's IJay region ; while the F. is/uiuliras, a well-known 

 European form, occurs in Greenland also, and occasionally farther south. 



Holboll, in his account of the birds of CJreenland (Isis, 1845), a])i)ears to 

 recognize but one species of Gerfalcon as occurring there, to which he gives 

 the name of inlnndicm. This is, he states, the most abundant Falcon in 

 Greenland, and is eijnally common in the northern and in the southern 

 parts. Their great variations in color he regarded as indicative of difl'erences 

 in ages to only a very limited extent, and as in no respect specific. Tiiese 

 differences in color were found among Ijoth nestlings and breeding birds, 

 white and dark i)irds Vieing found together in both circumstances. 1'he 

 white birds were more numerous in Northern Greenland, and the dark ones 

 oftener seen in the southern portion. 



He found the young birds moulting throughout the winter. On the 4th 

 of January, 1840, he shot a young female that showed signs of moulting 

 about the head and neck, with a .striped white appearance from the sprout- 

 ing feathers. The ovaries were quite well developed, and it was evident that 

 the birds of this species breed in the first season after their birth. Hol- 

 boll adds that they breed in January, that their eggs are of nearly the same 

 color as those of the I'tarmigan, but are twice as large. They nest usually 

 in inaccessible cliffs. They prey chiefly upon water-fowl and rtarmigans, 

 and usually build near "bird rocks," from which they obtain the young 

 without much trouble. He mentions having once seen one with a young 

 Lams triddcti/lits in each foot, and another with two Triuga nuiritiiiia carried 

 in the same manner. Its rapidity of flight HoUmll did not regard as very 

 great. He had for years kejjt pigeons, and only lost two young birds, which 

 were seized when iit rest. Almost every day, es])ecially in October and 

 November, these Falcons would chase the old Pigeons unsuccessfully, and 

 were often shot when they followed them too near the house. Tiiey were 

 not particularly shy, and were occasionally decoyed and killed by throwing 

 a dead bird towards ti ni. 



During the sunnner they are most numerous along the bays, especially 

 where there are "bird-rocks" near. In Septeml)er they go southerly along 

 the coast, and also in October and Novend)er. At this time they are not rare, 

 and approach the houses of the Danes, near which they are often seen fight- 

 ing with the Ravens. Their spring migrations are not so regular as they 

 are in the autumn, or ])erha])s at this time they do not approach the houses 

 so frequently. "When they are near the settlements, it is noticed that in the 

 morning they fly towards the south, and in the evening towards the north. 



Richardson speaks of the (Jerfalcon as a constant resident in the Hudson 



