. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ctic regions^ where it feeds on large birds, principallyGallinaceae or Palmipedes. Three varieties of this species are known, all very similar to eachother: the White Falcon, called by Bufifon the White Gyrfalcon of theNorth, which inhabits the extreme north of the two continents; theFalco islandicus^ or Gyrfalcon of Iceland, peculiar to that country;and the Gyrfalcon of Norway, which is found in Scandinavia, andsometimes appears in Germany, Holland, and Fran
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ctic regions^ where it feeds on large birds, principallyGallinaceae or Palmipedes. Three varieties of this species are known, all very similar to eachother: the White Falcon, called by Bufifon the White Gyrfalcon of theNorth, which inhabits the extreme north of the two continents; theFalco islandicus^ or Gyrfalcon of Iceland, peculiar to that country;and the Gyrfalcon of Norway, which is found in Scandinavia, andsometimes appears in Germany, Holland, and France. The first two of these are very docile, and consequently wereeagerly sought after by falconers, who used them for pursuing the Heron,Crane, and Stork. An ancient Danish law, which was repealed in1758, forbade, under pain of death, the destruction of these birds. The Lanner Falcon {Falco lanarius, Fig. 266) is about the same size JERFALCONS. ^77 as the White Gyrfalcon; it is found in Hungary, Russia, Styria,and Greece, where it makes its appearance after the arrival of thebirds of passage. It is also easily trained for Fig. 265.—Jerfalcons. In the first rank of Falcons proper must be mentioned thePeregrine Falcon (Falco pcregrinus), often designated by the namesof the Common Falcon and the Passenger Falcon. As its name u 578 REPTILES AND BIRDS. sufficiently indicates, it is a bird of passage. It is common in thecentre and north of ^Vestern Europe, as well as in the islands ofthe Mediterranean. It also inhabits North America, where it isfrequently called the Chicken-eater. The flight of the Peregrine Falcon is wonderfully rapid. One ofthese birds having escaped from the falconry of Henri 11., it is saidthat it performed the whole distance from Fontainebleau to Malta inone day, over 300 leagues. It hovers in the air with graceful
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
