244 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



or dark form of the Greenland Falcon are equally represented. 

 Mr. Hagerup, after an examination of a large number of speci- 

 mens, thinks there is but one Gyrfalcon found in Greenland, 

 and that the light-coloured birds breed chiefly in the north, and 

 the dark are restricted to the southern districts, and that the two 

 must be considered as geographical races. Their principal 

 food in the winter consists of Ptarmigan. It seems somewhat 

 remarkable that not a single living example of the Duck Hawk 

 or Peregrine Falcon was observed by the author during his 

 residence, as it is known to breed generally throughout Green- 

 land. The Snowy Owl was considered a rare winter visitor. In 

 the summer this fine Owl, which is a thoroughly circum-polar 

 species, is most common in the extreme north; in 1876 no less 

 than twenty-six nests of the Snowy Owl were found within fifteen 

 miles of the * Discovery* when stationed in the bay of that name 

 in lat. 81° 42'. The Raven is very common all the year round, 

 and from August to October they collect in flocks, sometimes as 

 many as thirty, and devour great quantities of the berries of 

 Empetram nigrum. The lively little Wheatear is a common 

 summer resident, arriving in May, and breeds in all suitable 

 places. Greenland specimens average a larger size than those 

 in Europe. Mr. Hagerup remarks that they appear to have 

 learned one tune from the Snow Bunting, used by both the male 

 and female at the nest, and that he has never heard the Danish 

 Wheatears whistle that tune. 



The most common of the small birds found in the vicinity of 

 Ivigtut was the Greater Redpoll; this is the Acanthis linaria 

 rostrata of American ornithologists, and the Linota linaria, or 

 Mealy Redpoll of English authors, and must not be confounded 

 with the Greenland Redpoll, Linota hornemannii, Holboll, which 

 is resident throughout the year, breeding quite commonly north 

 of 69°, and in winter moving to the south. The Greater or Mealy 

 Redpoll is a summer visitor, arriving late in April and leaving 

 in September. The nest, usually built wherever a bunch of 

 bushes are found, is a very pretty object, of dried grass and roots, 

 lined with plant-wool and often a few ptarmigan feathers, so as 

 to look altogether white. 



The domestic Sparrow was introduced into Greenland some 

 years ago ; in 188G only five males were left, and in 1888 two. 

 It is satisfactory to know that this pest has at last found a 



