116 MR. H. E, DRESSER ON FALCO LABRADORUS. . [ Mar. 2, 
conclusion as I have done. Indeed he writes (/. ¢c.) as follows 
respecting the female from Fort Anderson:—‘ Upon comparing 
this specimen with the figures of a pair of var. gyrfaleo by Wolf 
in Newton’s ‘Ootheca Wolleyana,’ I can discover no difference at 
all’’—thus showing that he only needed the necessary materials to 
convince himself of the identity of the American and European Jer 
Falcons. 
It may be of some interest to ornithologists to know the result of 
some researches I have made to asertain whether the bird described 
by Forster under the name of F. sacer is really the Jer Faleon, more 
especially as Forster was the first author subsequent to 1766 to use 
the name sacer; and his paper bears date 1772, being 16 years prior 
to Gmelin’s Syst. Nat., in which the true Saker Falcon is described 
under the name of F. sacer. 
Forster writes (Phil. Trans. lxii. p. 382, abridged edition p. 331) 
as follows:—‘ Speckled Partridge Hawk at Hudson’s Bay. The 
name is derived from its feeding on the birds of the Grous tribe, 
commonly called Partridges, at Hudson’s Bay. Its irides are yellow 
and the legs blue. It comes nearest the Sacre of Brisson, Buffon, 
and Belon; but Buffon says it has black eyes, which is very 
indistinct, for the irides are black in none of the Falcons, and in few 
other birds; and the pupil, if he means that, is black in all birds. 
It is said by Belon tu come from Tartary and Russia, and is there- 
fore probably a northern bird. It is very voracious and_ bold, 
catching Partridges out of a covey which the Europeans are driving 
into their nests (? nets). It breeds in April and May. Its young 
are ready to fly in the middle of June. Its nests, as those of all 
other Falcons, are built in unfrequented places ; therefore the author 
of the account from Severn river could not ascertain how many eggs 
it lays; however, the Indians told him it commonly laid two. 
It never migrates, and weighs 23 pounds; its length is 22 inches, its 
breadth 3 feet.” 
From this it will be seen that it is most difficult to determine with 
any degree of certainty what the species is to which Forster refers. 
The yellow iris would point to an immature Goshawk ; but that bird 
has not blue legs, and, doubtless, Forster would not have mistaken the 
Goshawk for the Saker. On the whole the probability is that the 
bird in question really wasa Jer Falcon. The range of F’. gyrfalco is, 
seeing that the American bird is identical with our European form, 
very extensive, as it is found from Scandinavia right across Asia into 
Arctic America, being, it would seem, replaced in Labrador by F. 
lubradorus. The synonymy of this species I make rather different 
from that given by Mr. Sharpe (/.c.), and consider it should be as 
follows, viz. :— 
FALcO GyYRFALCO. 
Le Gerfault, Briss. Orn. i. p. 370, pl. xxx. fig 2 (1760). 
Falco gyrfalco, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 130 (1766). 
Gerfault de Norwége, D’Aubenton, Pl. Enl. pl. 462 (1770). 
Le Gerfaut, Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. i. p. 239, pl. xiii. (1770). 
? Falco sacer, J. Forster, Phil. Trans. Ixii. p. 382 (1772). 
