18 
VERTEBRATA. 
THE WHITE FALCON. 
articles, together with a part of the bones ; all these -parts are left behind in the stomach, and are 
vomited forth in the form of roundish pellets. This habit is common to many other birds, 
especially shrikes, swallows, and others which feed on hard-winged insects. 
The strong feet of the falcons enable them to perch with great ease and security, and, when tbus 
roosting, they sit wnth the body nearly erect, and the head and neck drawn back in an attitude of 
considerable elegance ; but on the ground the length and curvature of their claws render them 
rather awkward; they incline the head and body forward, and are obliged to move by clumsy leaps, 
with the assistance of their wings. 
The Falconidse are generally solitary birds ; their cry is loud and shrill, sometimes becoming a 
scream or yelp, and is usually a sign of anger or triumph. Their nests are rude, flat, and often of 
large size ; they are composed of sticks, twigs, and similar materials, lined with hair, wool, or 
feathers, in the part destined for the reception of the eggs. These vary in number from two to 
six or eight ; they are usually of a white color, and more or less spotted with dark tints. 
Genus FALCON: Falco. — This includes several species, and among them the celebrated birds 
used in the falconry of the Middle Ages, and called JVoble Falcons, in distinction from the other 
species not employed in this pastime, and called Ignoble Falcons. 
The White Falcon, F. candicans, is of a pure white, with heart-shaped spots, and faint 
transverse bands of a grayish- brown color on the upper parts. The male* is eighteen inches 
long, from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail. It lives on birds of considerable size, prin- 
cipally those of the gallinaceous kinds. It inhabits the high polar regions of both hemispheres, 
and was the proper Jer Falcon or 6^yr Falcon of the days of falconry; this and the Iceland falcon 
were most esteemed by falconers on account of their capacity for education. It was formerly 
obtained from Northern Europe, but it is now known to be found in Greenland and the Polar 
Regions of North America ; and under the supposition that it was a distinct species, it has been 
called the American Gyrfalcon and the F. Groenlandicus. 
The Iceland Falcon, F. Islandicus, is larger than the preceding ; it is brown above, barred 
* In speaking of the length of a bird we measure from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail ; if we mention the 
length without naming the gender, we mean the largest, which, in the Raptores, is the female ; in most others the male. 
