THE ICELAND OR JER FALCON. 
81 
short. Tail very deeply forked, of twelve feathers, the lateral ones extremely 
elongated. 
Bill bluish-black above, light blue on the cere, and the edges of both 
mandibles. Edges of the eyelids light blue ; iris black. Feet light blue, 
tinged with green ; claws flesh-coloured. The head, the neck all round, and 
the under parts, are white, tinged with bluish-grey : the shafts of the head, 
neck, and breast blackish. The rest of the plumage is black, with blue and 
purple reflections. 
Length 25 inches; extent of wings 51 beak along the back 1J. 
The female is similar to the male. 
Genus IX.— FALCO, Unn. FALCON. 
Bill short, robust ; its upper outline decurved from the base ; cere short, 
bare ; edge of upper mandible with a festoon and a prominent angular process. 
Nostrils round, with an internal ridge, ending in a central tubercle. Feet 
strong ; tarsi moderate, reticulate ; toes long, broadly scutellate, the anterior 
webbed at the base; claws long, well curved, very acute. Wings long, 
pointed ; second quill longest, first and third nearly equal ; outer toe abruptly 
cut out on the inner web. Tail rather long, nearly even. 
THE ICELAND OR JER FALCON. 
Falco islandicus, Lath. 
PLATE XIX. — MIle and Female. 
On the 6th August, 1833, while my young friends, Thomas Lincoln and 
Joseph Cooledce, accompanied by my son John, were rambling by the 
rushing waters of a brook banked by stupendous rocks, eight or ten miles 
from the port of Bras d’Or, on the .coast of Labrador, they were startled by 
a loud and piercing shriek, which issued from the precipices above them. 
On looking up, my son observed a large Hawk plunging over and about him. 
It was instantly brought to the ground. A second Hawk dashed towards 
the dead one, as if determined to rescue it; but it quickly met the same fate, 
the contents of my son’s second barrel bringing it to his feet. 
Vol. I. 13 
