THE GAME FALCONS OF NEW ENGLAND. 
BY WILLIAM WOOD, M.D. 
In the April number of the Naturauisr, for 1870, I published 
an article on Falconry. I now propose to describe, in this and 
some future numbers, all the falcons found in New England, that 
were formerly used, or can be trained to capture game, with an ac- 
count of their habits, manner of nesting, and their eggs. 
there are nine of the subgenus Falco found within the limits of 
North America, only three are found in New England, if I except 
the gerfalcon, which, if found at all, must be wholly accidental. - In 
this genus, we find birds of smaller size and strength, yet posses- 
sing all the courage and swiftness of the eagles. These were the 
birds used in falconry, and called noble because of the high pre- 
rogative of those who followed this amusement. In these, the bill 
is short, sharp, and curved from the base; the nostrils are circu- 
lar with a central tubercle. They are easily distinguished from 
all other hawks by a prominent tooth in the upper mandible, 
shaped like the letter V, and a notch in the lower one to receive it. 
This genus is considered by naturalists as “ the typical, or most 
highly or completely organized of rapacious birds.” 
I will first describe the Falco peregrinus Wilson. This is very 
commonly called the Peregrine falcon, and is inferior to none of 
| its genus in beauty, courage and rapacity. There seems to be 
some diversity of opinion as to the identity of this and the Euro- 
pean species. Bonaparte, DeKay and others, consider them dis- 
tinct, while Nuttall, Pennant, Audubon and others, believe them 
identical. Audubon remarks that “ once when nearing the coast 
of England, being then about one hundred and fifty miles distant 
from it, in the month of July, I obtained a pair of these birds 
which had come on board of our vessel and had been shot down. 
I examined them with care, and found no difference between them 
and those which I shot in America.” This is the bird that was 50 
highly prized and mostly used in England for falconry, and among 
the many hundreds owned by the Grand Khan, once Emperor of 
Tartary and China, the Peregrine falcon was considered second to 
none, except the gerfalcon. ‘They are much more common now 
