1905. WiLTjAMS. — Greenland Icclayid Falcons in Ireland. 203 



Greenland Falcons compared to three Iceland, which gives a 

 very fair idea of the rarity of the Iceland Falcon in Ireland. 

 I now give weights and measurements. 



Iceland Falcon (female) weight 3 lbs. 14 ozs. Spread of 

 wings, 4 feet 3 inches. From point of beak to point of tail, 

 23 inches. 



Greenland Falcon (female), weight 3 lbs \\\ ozs. Extent of 

 wings, 2 feet 10 inches. From point of beak to tail 21 J inches. 

 In the adult Greenland Falcon the legs and cere were a very 

 pale yellow, in the immature birds the legs and cere pale 

 bluish grey, as were those of the Iceland Falcon. The irides 

 in all ages a dark hazel. Four of the birds were obtained in 

 Co. Mayo, three in Kerry, one in Donegal, and one in Cork. 



For the following facts as regards the distribution of the 

 Greenland Falcon I am indebted to Yarrell's " British Birds," 

 Vol. I, page 39. 



The Greenland Falcon seems to be most plentiful in the 

 inhospitable regions which enclose Baffin's Bay, and extend 

 to the westward. 



From this tract adult birds seldom wander to other lands, 

 though the young, especially in autumn and winter, occur 

 regularly in Iceland and not unfrequently in the Dominion 

 of Canada from Newfoundland (where according to Mr. Reekes 

 it is a regular visitant in the fall) westward, in the United 

 States, the British Islands and even countries still more 

 remote from the place of their birth. They are no doubt driven 

 away by their parents, as is commonly the habit of birds of 

 prey, and follow the large flocks of waterfowl which are bred 

 in the north on their southward migration, though it would 

 appear the Ptarmigan forms the chief sustenance of the old 

 birds. At the same time it must not be supposed that in 

 Greenland the white form only is found. In the southern 

 districts of that country the Iceland Falcon in certainly more 

 numerous, and on the other hand, there is good reason for 

 believing that the Greenland Falcon occurs in some of the 

 southern parts of British America, and perhaps even in the 

 Old World. 



Writing of what doubtless is this form of falcon, Sir John 

 Richardson in the " Fauna Boreali-Americana " says, " In the 

 middle of June, 182 1, a pair of these birds attacked me as I 



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