THE GREENLAND FALCON. 137 
of them was described to the writer by the Rev. W. Willimott, an accomplished 
falconer, as ‘“‘a very beautiful specimen, nearly snow-white, with very 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, many years ago, 
on Lundy Island, the other, secured near Plymouth, a very white bird, was in the 
fine collection of the late Mr. EK. 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 was the White Falcon which was seen by 
Mr. Henry Swaysland, of Brighton, sitting on the cliffs at Rousdon, Sir Henry 
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 
previously. It is not unlikely that this was the bird that was subsequently 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 Gyrfalcons 
that have been obtained in the British Isles could be examined; it is only of late 
years that different species of the Gyrfalcon have been recognized, so that it is 
impossible to say to what species the early recorded birds may 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 ¢uzdrva 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 boldly sally 
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 
