THE GYR-FALCONS. 
197 
a Falconer’s point of view, I have had but a very slight 
acquaintance with the Iceland Falcon, and / 
rate her highly, but it must be borne m mind that all the birds 
of this species^ trained in this country have necessarily had the 
great disadvantage of a sea-passage, and, 
have arrived so much damaged in plumage that they cou d 
not be put on the wing till the first moult, and all Falconers 
know how much Hawks suffer from a lengthened period of 
inactivity. Our ancestors seem, however, to have esteemed 
the Icelanders highly ; there are traditions of their being 
trained to take the Kite, and m more f cent days a few of 
these Falcons were flown at Herons in die Netherlands with 
success ... In disposition this Falcon seems to be 
tameabie enough, but by no means remarkable for docility, of 
a somewhat sluggish temperament, and it is by no means so 
hardy as might be expected from the climatic conditions of the 
country of its origin.” _ 
iTegt.— Placed on the ledges of cliffs, and formed of twigs 
and dead sticks, and lined with wool. Mr. Proctor said, of 
those he found in Iceland, that they much resembled the 
nests of the Raven. The old nests of that bird are probably 
often utilised by the Gyr-Falcon. 
Eees. — Four in number, the ground-colour being dull white, 
but scarcely visible on account of the closeness of the rufous 
clouding in many specimens, which renders the general 
appearance of the eggs almost uniform rufous. Other eggs 
are wliity-brown, mottled and blotched with reddish-brown, 
principally near the larger end. Axis, 2-2-2-4 ; diam., i-S-i'p. 
in. 
THE GREY GYR-FALCON. HIEROFALCO GYRtALCO. 
Fako wfalco, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 13° (1766) ; Dresser, B. 
Em. vi. p. is, ph 367 (1875); Seebohm Br. B. 1. p. 16 
(1883); Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 334 (1889)7 Lilford, 
Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xxx. (1895). ^ / o i . 
Hkrofalco gyrfalco, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 1. p. 416 (1874) , 
B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. loi (1883). 
Adult Male — Above blue-grey, with broad greyish-black cross- 
bands, the Lars in alternate series of black and grey ; lower 
