1052 Birds, 



At the time that catalogue was written, I gave the account of the ea- 

 gle as detailed to me by a gentleman, whom I considered as an accu- 

 rate ornithologist, and it was from his description that the error 

 occurred. I saw the same specimen a few years afterwards, and on 

 carefully inspecting it I had no doubt of its being this species, and 

 not the golden eagle. Its ash-coloured or cinereous plumage, its tail, 

 and more especially its feet, clearly settled the distinctive characters 

 of the species. For a neat vignette, representing the foot of each of 

 these eagles, see Yarrell's * British Birds,' i. 19; the distinction of 

 these is but indifferently made in Bewick's figures. 



Osprey, Pandion Haliceetos. Mr. Selby, in his ' Catalogue of the 

 Birds of Northumberland and Durham,' p. 245, No. 3, says, — "I am 

 informed that Mr. E. Backhouse, when at Hartlepool, frequently saw 

 one perched on the wreck of a ship." 



Gyr-falcon, Iceland Falcon, Falco Islandicus. I saw a fine speci- 

 men of this rare falcon, which had been shot, about the middle of 

 March, 1837, on the moors near Guisborough. It was a young bird, 

 having all the upper parts of a brown ash-colour, the white occurring 

 on the edges of the feathers. The under parts white, with large lon- 

 gitudinal brow T n spots. Legs strong, blue, tinged with yellow. Bill 

 blue, tipped with black. Wings nearly as long as the tail. Length 

 about 22 inches. It well corresponded with plate 462 of the 'Planches 

 Enluminees,' which is named " Gerfault de Norwege] except that that 

 plate represents the back of rather too dark a brown, and the orange- 

 coloured iris is wrong, for the iris in the above specimen was brown. 



Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus. A pair of these falcons breeds 

 nearly every spring in Huntcliff. — J. G. 



Hobby, Falco subbuteo. A rare and migratory species in the district. 



Merlin, Falco JEsalon. In some places of the north of England a 

 common bird, where it builds ; but in the south-east part of Durham, 

 it is rather scarce. 



Kestrel, Falco iinnunculus. A common species, and more particu- 

 larly in the autumn, with us. I have often observed several on the 

 wing together at that season, when they always seemed to me to be 

 somewhat gregarious. It is locally called the windhover, from its 

 manner of resting in the air, and gently moving both wings ; it thus 

 hovers over its prey (a field-mouse),* and then all at once falls or poun- 

 ces upon it. The kestrel more nearly approaches to the eagles in the 

 extreme acuteness of its vision. 



* The fceslril also feeds greedily on insects, caterpillars, lizards and slow worms. 

 See Zoo). 521,867.— Ed. 



