THE GYR AND GREENLAND FALCON. 31 



cularly abundant, owing, it was presumed, to the prey being easily 

 captured in its shallow water : in the course of the forenoon he 

 had seen fifteen or sixteen in that locality, where, too, the thickly 

 wooded banks afforded them suitable resting-places. Mr. Evatt, 

 of Mount Louise, Monaghan, has informed me, that during a 

 sporting tour in Canada, he was made aware, as night approached, 

 of the abundance of basse, at the mouth of the Grand River, by 

 ospreys dashing down, and bearing them off to the woods. This 

 was the signal for the commencement of his fishing. 



The Prince of Canino considers the American osprey distinct 

 from the European, but the general opinion of ornithologists 

 seems rather opposed to that view. 



THE GYR FALCON. 



Jer Falcon. Iceland Falcon. 

 Falco gyrfalco, Lin. 



Islandicus, Briss. 



Hancock, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 2, 247. 



Must be included in the Irish catalogue with doubt. 



All we know of it, is what Mr. Templeton has stated under 

 " Jer Falcon;" — that in 1803 he received the skin of a bird of 

 this species, which had been shot near Randalstown, county of 

 Antrim. Bat as the term Jer Falcon, according to Mr. Hancock's 

 views, has been applied indiscriminately to two species, we cannot, 

 in the absence of a description, tell to which of them Mr. Tem- 

 pleton's bird belonged. 



THE GREENLAND FALCON. 



Falco candicans, Gmel. Linn. 



Groenlandicus, Turt. Linn. 



Hancock, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 2, 249. 



Is of extremely rare occurrence. 



In a letter from John Vandeleur Stewart, Esq., of Rockhill, 

 Letterkenny, dated Feb. 3, 1837, I was favoured with a minute 



