67 
On our plate we have given a correct out- 
line of the profile of the beak of this noble 
bird, the size of nature. 
This bird greeds in Iceland, and is capa- 
ble of braving the coldest climates through- 
out the year, and of supporting itself in the 
open air during the most severe winters un- 
injured, in the latitude of Petersburgh, when 
others of the Falcon tribe are destroyed by 
frost. It has been often observed in May, 
about Albany Fort, Hudson's Bay, feeding 
on the white grous and other birds of the 
gallinaceous kind. 
In Iceland (according to Pennant), " it 
is reserved for the Kings pf Denmark, who 
send their falconers, with two attendants, 
annually into the island to purchase them. 
They are caught by the natives, a certain 
number of whom in every district are li- 
censed for that purpose. They bring all 
they take, about Midsummer, to Bessested, 
to meet the royal falconer ; and each brings 
ten or twelve, capped, and perched on a cross 
pole, which they carry on horseback, and 
rest on the stirrup. The falconer examines 
the birds, rejects those which are not for his 
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