The Birds of Angmagsalik. | DT 
self connects this with the fact that in that year he started to keep 
pigeons, but this can hardly be the reason, even if some of the Falcons 
in the district were enticed to the vicinity of the dwellings by these 
pigeons. As a rule — in the later years too — the Falcon appears in 
September and remains until December, in other words as long as there 
are Ptarmigan or sea-birds on the open water. They are, of course, also 
grateful for smaller birds; Petersen writes on November 6th, 1911: 
“Today а number of Falcons were seen round here, and a few Snow 
Buntings, which the Falcons naturally hunted.” And on October 15th, 
1904: “During the past few days many Falcons have been seen every 
day, hunting the few Snow Buntings and Greenland Redpolls which are 
still to be seen here in small flocks.” On April 26th, 1913: “Today I 
shot an old male which was hunting the small birds.” Once Petersen 
mentions that a Falcon was after his poultry. But in the winter, when 
there are neither Ptarmigan nor small birds, and the fjords are ice- 
covered so that the sea-birds are gone, it is not easy to understand how 
these big birds of prey live. Petersen writes on December 13th, 1913: 
“Several Falcons are still seen daily, and one is shot now and then; 
at Sermilik, from which place we had a visitor the other day, there are 
said to be exceptionally many, which almost makes one wonder, as there 
are no Ptarmigan there at all just now, nor any sea-birds — at any 
rate hardly any are seen and shot.” The explanation of how the Falcons 
live must be that they seek their food out in the open sea beyond the 
belt of ice. A trip of a few miles means little to a flyer like the Falcon. 
That the number of Falcons must be connected with the presence 
of the Ptarmigan seems sometimes to appear with great certainty. In 
the autumn of 1911 there were large numbers of Falcons, both at the 
Colony and northwards along the coast. In March, 1912, Petersen writes: 
“From December to the end of February there have been many Ptar- 
migan; this is certainly the reason why there have been so many Falcons 
here all the winter. Since my return here (end of August, 1911) I have 
myself shot no less than 27 of these birds, but could have had twice 
that number had I not shot ра у.” At other times, however, the con- 
nection seems less distinct. In December, 1913, and January, 1914, there 
were large numbers of Falcons but no Ptarmigan, and no great numbers 
of sea-birds. On November 28th Petersen writes: “During the past 
fourteen days many Falcons have been seen here and numbers have 
been shot, some by myself and some by the natives. It is not too much 
to say that since the beginning of the month one to ten Falcons have 
been seen here every day. Although there are practically no Ptarmigan 
in the neighbourhood, all the Falcons so far shot have been very — 
indeed unusually — fat. 
In the beginning of December, 1913, there were, as already men- 
LVIIT. 17 
