344 ICELAND FALCON. 
My-vatn, whence the late W. Proctor of Durham used to receive 
eggs and a few skins almost every year, after he had visited that 
locality. In Greenland, south of the Arctic circle, there is a 
representative form which is known as & folboelli; this is whiter 
than the typical Icelander, though darker than the Greenlander, 
and has some bars on the flanks, while there is a little yellow at the 
-base of the bill. Either this, or else the true Icelander, occurs on 
Jan Mayen Island, as well as the Greenland Falcon. Labrador is 
inhabited by / obsoletus of American systematists, a very dark 
greyish-brown bird, easily recognizable. I cannot find any conclusive 
evidence of the occurrence of the typical Icelander in Germany, 
Holland, or France, but the species has been taken in Norway. 
In Iceland the eggs, 3-4 in number, and similar in size and 
appearance to those of the Greenland Falcon, are deposited on the 
ledge of a cliff, or on the former abode of some other bird, 
frequently a Raven. The food consists of water-fowl, waders, and 
largely of Arctic species of Grouse (often called ‘ Ptarmigan’), 
which are captured on the wing. 
The adult is represented by the front figure in the engraving ; 
the prevailing colour of the upper parts being brownish-grey on a 
creamy ground, while the under parts are of a purer white; the bill 
is bluish horn-colour, the legs and feet are yellowish. The young 
bird (in the rear) is ashy-brown above, while the under parts are 
marked with dark drop-shaped spots ; the feet are more inclined to 
yellow than they are in the young Greenland Falcon. Length of 
the female 23 in., wing 16 in.; of the male 21 in., wing 14°5 in. 
There is great individual variation, and some examples show a 
greyish ground-colour which closely approaches that of the next 
species. 
Among the Northern Falcons there is great individual variation, 
from the nestling stage onward. The first moult usually begins in 
April, when the bird is nearly a year old, and after that moult is 
completed—as it should be by October—there will be no further 
change in the pattern or character of the plumage. That is to say, 
the bird which then exhibits numerous dark markings will reproduce 
them at each successive moult to the end of its life, while a pale 
bird will remain so. The intensity of the markings may perhaps 
become fainter when the feathers are old and ready to be cast. 
These remarks equally apply to the Peregrine Falcon. 
