748 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
would settle absolutely these points and while the question is open we 
must relegate the species to the hypothetical list. 
In general habits the Western Red-tail does not differ noticeably from 
its eastern relative, but in the more or less treeless regions of the west the 
nest is sometimes built in smaller trees and much nearer the ground than 
is usual in the east, occasionally even on a cactus or the shelf of a cliff. 
Harlan’s Hawk. Buteo borealis harlani (Aud.). (337d) 
Synonyms: Harlan’s Hen Hawk, Black Hawk, Black Warrior. 
Similar to the Western Red-tail, and often equally black; in fact some 
specimens show little other color, although commonly the tail of the adult 
is mottled and barred with black, gray, and rusty. 
Distribution.—Gulf States and lower Mississippi Valley, north casually 
to Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Kansas; south to Central America. 
We have no record of this hawk for Michigan unless the specimen seen 
by Dr. Velie at Petoskey, and described under the last number, should 
be one. There are several records, however, for Indiana and Illinois and 
it is possible that wanderers may sometimes reach southern Michigan. 
As noted by Mr. Amos Butler in his Birds of Indiana this is the bird for 
which in all probability the well known Indian chief ‘Black Hawk” was 
named. 
Gyrfalcon. Falco rusticolus gyrfalco Linn. (354a) 
Synonyms: Gerfalcon, Brown Gyrfalcon, Jerfalcon. 
The peculiar notched bill characterizes the falcons, and the large species 
(Peregrine and Gyrfalcon) have only the first primary emarginate on the 
inner web. The wing of the male Gyrfalcon measures about 14 inches, 
that of the female 15 to 16 inches, 
Distribution.—Northern Europe, Greenland and Arctic America, from 
northern Labrador and Hudson Bay to Alaska; rarely south in winter to 
New England. 
At least four subspecies of gyrfalcon are found occasionally (usually in 
winter) along the northern border of the United States, but they are so 
seldom taken, and the distinctions between them are so slight, that the 
notes on Michigan occurrences are inextricably confused. We do not 
know of a single Michigan specimen in any collection. Under the name 
“Greenland Gyrfalcon, Falco sacer candicans” Stockwell says ‘A single 
specimen taken in Michigan, on the authority of the late Dr. G. B. Wilson” 
(Forest and Stream, VIII, 224). 
Kneeland wrote: ‘TI have heard of a white falcon of large size (measur- 
ing about five feet in the spread of his wings) which was shot on the point; 
this, I think, must have been the gyrfalcon” (Birds of Keweenaw Point, 
Lake Superior, Proc. Bost. Soe. Nat. Hist. VI, 1857, p. 232.) 
All the Gyrfalcons are birds of the far north, most of them nesting within 
the Arctic Circle and feeding on ptarmigan, waterfowl, and hares, and 
only appearing within the limits of the United States in winter. 
Richardson’s Hawk. Falco columbarius richardsoni Ridgw. (357b) 
Synonyms: Richardson’s Merlin, Richardson’s Falcon. 
Known by its general resemblance to the Pigeon Hawk, and like that 
species having the two outer primaries emarginate on their inner webs; 
