The Greenland Falcon, 137 



of them was descrilsed to the writer by the Rev. W. Williniott, an accomplished 

 falconer, as "a very beautiful specimen, nearly snow-white, with ver}' few dark 

 spots, the whitest I ever saw living or dead ; it was shot on a Pigeon, which it 

 was seen to knock down, on the Goonhilly Downs in the Lizard district." In 

 Devonshire two have also been obtained ; one shot in November, man}' years ago, 

 on Ivundy Island, the other, secured near Plymouth, a very white bird, was in the 

 fine collection of the late Mr. E. H. Rodd, of Penzance. A young bird, from 

 which Yarrell's picture was taken, was shot on Lord Cawdor's estate, Stackpole 

 Court, in Pembrokeshire, where it had been for some time living on the Pheasants. 

 Another instance in the S.W. counties Avas the White Falcon which was seen b}' 

 Mr. Henry Swaysland, of Brighton, sitting on the cliffs at Rousdon, Sir Henr}' 

 Peek's place, near Lyme Regis, in 1882, which allowed him to approach it within 

 about thirty yards ; it had been observed about Rousdon for some two months 

 previousl3^ It is not unlikely that this was the bird that was subsequentl}^ shot 

 on the top of Bullock Hill, near Balsdean, in Sussex, on 26th September, 1882, 

 that was seen by Mr. J. H. Gurney, junr., and determined by him to be an adult 

 Greenland Falcon. Other examples have occurred in Norfolk and in Yorkshire. 

 As was to be expected, more have been secured in Scotland and its Islands. Four 

 have been reported by Robert Gray from the Hebrides, one from Lanarkshire, one 

 from Perthshire, another from Aberdeen. Harvie-Brown mentions two from 

 Caithness, while Lord Lilford knew of several from the neighbourhood of Loch 

 Rannoch and Loch Tummel, in Perthshire. In Ireland the Greenland Falcon is 

 occasionally met with ; eight were reported from the west coast during the winter 

 of 1883-4. No doubt other instances might be recorded if all the G^-rfalcons 

 that have been obtained in the British Isles could be examined ; it is onty of late 

 5-ears that different species of the Gyrfalcon have been recognized, so that it is 

 impossible to sa}^ to what species the earl}- recorded birds ma}' have belonged. 



Seebohm states that the Greenland Falcon "is the only Hawk resident in the 

 Arctic regions. Its keen eye, rapid powers of flight, and capability of being 

 tamed, make it a favourite with the falconer, and the terror of the weaker birds. 

 Its home is the tundra beyond the limits of forest growth, where it selects the 

 rocks and mountains in which to breed." Ptarmigan, Waterfowl, and Sandpipers 

 form its chief quarry ; one was seen with a young Kittiwake, and another with a 

 Purple Sandpiper, in each foot ; some of the " White Falcons " seen in Scotland 

 evinced a preference for Rooks. The flight of the Greenland Falcon is described 

 as grand and powerful. Should any intruder approach its nest, it will boldlv sallv 

 forth to attack, flying round in circles with such velocity as to produce a rushing 

 sound as it darts through the air. Very few naturalists indeed have ever seen 



