576 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



very well. Buffon reared one which became tolerably familiar, but 

 never showed the least affection for those who tended it. 



Falcons properly so called (from/tf/r, a reaping-hook) are marvel- 

 lously organised for rapine, and realise the ideal of a bird of prey. 

 They have a short bill, bent from the base, with a very strong tooth 

 on each side of the upper mandible, with which an indentation corre- 

 sponds in the lower portion. The wings of this bird are long and 

 pointed, causing its flight to be at once powerful, rapid, and agile. Its 

 tarsi are short, and its claws hooked and sharp. When we add to all 

 this a most remarkable power of vision, enormous strength, and un- 

 daunted courage, it will easily be understood that these birds inspire 

 terror wherever they go. They feed only on living prey — birds or small 

 mammals. They always hunt on the wing. They assemble in flocks at 

 the time of migration to follow the birds of passage. At other times 

 they live in solitary couples, and build their nest, according to the 

 locality, in woods, cliffs, holes in quarries, or in ruined habitations, and 

 sometimes even in the interior of towns. They lay from two to four eggs. 



We shall divide the falcons into two groups : those that have tails 

 longer than their wings, and those which have wings as long and 

 sometimes longer than the tail. 



The group of Gyrfalcons or Jerfalcons comprehends the Gyrfalcons 

 proper, the Lanner Falcon, and the Peregrine. 



The Egyptians venerated the Falcon, and to this circumstance 

 the name of Gyrfalcon must be attributed, as it is a corruption of 

 hierofalco, or Sacred Falcon. 



The Gyrfalcon (Falco gyrfalco, Fig. 265) is the most powerful of 

 the Falcon tribe. In strength, although hardly two feet in height, it 

 rivals the Eagle itself. Its colour varies with its age. When young it 

 is of a beautiful brown tint, but becomes almost white with age. It 

 inhabits the Arctic regions, where it feeds on large birds, principally 

 Gallinaceae or Palmipedes. 



Three varieties of this species are known, all very similar to each 

 other : the White Falcon, called by Buffon the White Gyrfalcon of the 

 North, which inhabits the extreme north of the two continents ; the 

 Falco islandicus, or Gyrfalcon of Iceland, peculiar to that country; 

 and the Gyrfalcon of Norway, w r hich is found in Scandinavia, and 

 sometimes appears in Germany, Holland, and France. 



The first two of these are very docile, and consequently were 

 eagerly sought after by falconers, who used them for pursuing the Heron, 

 Crane, and Stork. An ancient Danish law, which was repealed in 

 1758, forbade, under pain of death, the destruction of these birds. 



The Lanner Falcon {Falco lunar iu 's, Fig. 266) is about the same size 



