Birds of Prey. 
125 
THE ICELAND 
GYR-FALCON. 
(H ierofalco 
islandicus.) 
The Iceland Gyr-Falcon. 
The home of the species is in Northern Greenland and 
Arctic America. It is a noble bird on the wing, but 
does not possess the fire and dash of a Peregrine, and 
is not so much in request with Falconers as the latter 
bird. In a wild state it feeds on Willow-Grouse and 
Ptarmigan as well as Mice and Lemmings. The eggs 
are laid on the bare rock, and are four in number, 
closely mottled and clouded with rufous or chestnut, 
and from two-and-a-quarter to two-and-a-half inches 
in length. Sometimes the bird makes use of the de- 
serted nest of some other species. 
Both this and the next species 
have blue bills, and always have 
the flanks distinctly cross-barred. 
The head of the Iceland Gyr-Fal- 
con is white, distinctly streaked 
with black, and the throat and chest are also streaked 
with black, while the bird is always darker in appear- 
ance than a Greenland Gyr-Falcon. The present 
species is an inhabitant of Iceland, and occasionally some individuals wander south, 
in winter, at which season they have been sometimes captured in Great Britain. 
Like the Greenland Falcon, the Iceland 
representative of the Gyr-Falcons feeds largely 
on Ptarmigan, and also captures Plovers, 
Guillemots and Ducks. In mediaeval times the 
species was highly esteemed by Falconers, but 
at the present day it is not so much in vogue, 
for the same reason as the Greenland Falcon. 
The nest of a Raven is often chosen by the 
bird, and sometimes a nest is built on the ledge 
of a cliff. The eggs are four in number, closely 
clouded with rufous, and are about two-and-a- 
quarter to two-and-a-half inches in length. 
This species has pro- 
bably occurred more often 
in Great Britain than has 
been supposed, and has 
doubtless been mistaken for the Iceland Gyr- 
P'alcon. It may always be distinguished from 
the latter species, when adult, by its uniform 
The Grey Gyr-Falcon. dark head. The young of the two birds are 
THE GREY 
GYR-FALCON. 
(H ierofalco gyrfalco.) 
