50 
FALCONINjE. falco. 
rally opposite, but sometimes alternate, the lower parts yel- 
lowish-white, longitudinally spotted with dusky. | 
Male, 21, . ., 15^, 2^, 2, Female, 23|-, 51 | 
This species, the most powerful, and one of the most beau- 
tiful of its genus, has frequently been met with in various i 
parts of Scotland as v/ell as in England, although it can 
scarcely be considered as a permanent resident, there being 
no authentic account of its breeding with us. It occurs in ■ 
Norway, Sweden, and several of the northern countries of | 
Europe ; in Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, and the fur coun- 
tries of North America. ! 
Jer Falcon. Jerkin. Iceland Falcon. Greenland Falcon. | 
Falco Gyrfalco and rusticolus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 130, 125. — ! 
Falco islandicus, Temm. Mann. d’Ornith. i. 17 ; iii* 0. — Falco 1 
Gyrfalco, Gyr Falcon, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 284. i 
11. Falco peregrinus. Peregrine Falcon. ! 
Wings when closed about half an inch shorter than the 
tail. Adult male with the head, hind neck, and a broad band j 
on the cheeks, black, the upper parts deep bluish-grey, fading i 
behind into ash-grey, and barred with greyish-black, the j 
lower parts white, the breast and sides transversely spotted i 
and barred with dusky. Female with the upper parts more 
dusky, the lower reddish- white, with larger markings. Young | 
with the upper parts deep brownish-black, faintly spotted | 
with reddish, each feather tipped with light red, the lower 
parts yellowish-white, with longitudinal dusky streaks. 
Male, 16|^, 36|^, 12J, ly^^, 1/^, 2, Female, 19^, 42 ^. | 
Equal in beauty of form, and little inferior in strength or | 
spirit, the Peregrine Falcon is next in size to the Gyr Falcon, i 
which it nearly equals in the estimation of those who train 
rapacious birds for the chase. Although nowhere very nume- 
rous, it is extensively distributed in Britain and Ireland. It j 
preys upon ptarmigans, partridges, grouse, pheasants, mal- * 
lards, teal, pigeons, gulls, puffins, auks, guillemots, rabbits, 
and young hares. Its flight is rapid, its course desultory, 
seldom in circles, although it sometimes hovers. It reposes 
on cliffs, whether on the coast or in the interior, and there 
nestles, laying three or four broadly' elliptical eggs, 2 inches 
in length, 1/^ in breadth, dull light red, dotted and patched 
with darker red. 
Blue Hawk. Grey Hawk. Hunting Flawk. Goshawk. 
Falcon. Common Falcon. 
Falco peregrinus. Lath. Ind. Ornith. i. 33. — Falco pere- 
