FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38  
39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   >>   >|  
shot the Falcon. As these Falcons can only be considered very rare accidental visitants to the Islands, it may be interesting to some of my readers to mention that they may distinguish them easily by colour, the Greenland, _Falco candicans_, being always the most white, and the Norway bird--the Gyr Falcon of falconers--being the darkest, the Iceland Falcon (the present species) being intermediate. This is generally a good guide at all ages, but occasionally there may be some difficulty in distinguishing young birds, especially as between the Iceland and the Norway Falcon. In a doubtful case in the Channel Islands, however, it would always be safer to consider the bird an Iceland rather than a Norway Falcon. 5. PEREGRINE FALCON. _Falco peregrinus_, Tunstall. French, "Faucon pelerin."--The Peregrine can now, I think, only be considered an autumnal visitant to the Islands, though, if not shot or otherwise destroyed, it would, no doubt, remain throughout the winter, and might perhaps have been resident, as Mr. MacCulloch sends me a note of one killed in Herm in December. All the Channel Island specimens I have seen have been young birds of the year, and generally killed in October or November. Adult birds, no doubt, occasionally occur, but they are comparatively rare, and it certainly does not breed anywhere in the Islands at present, though I see no reason why it should not have done so in former times, as there are many places well suited to it, and a constant supply of sea-birds for food. Mr. MacCulloch also seems to be of opinion that the Peregrine formerly bred in the Islands, as he says, speaking, however, of the _Falconidae_ generally, "There must have been a time when some of the species were permanent residents, for the high pyramidal rock south of the little Island of Jethou bears the name of 'La Fauconniere,' evidently denoting that it must have been a favourite resort of these birds, and there are other rocks with the same name." Certainly the rock here mentioned looks much like a place that would be selected by the Peregrine for breeding purposes, but that must have been before the days of excursion steamers once or twice a week to Jethou and Herm. Occasionally a young Peregrine is made to do duty as a Lanner, and is recorded in the local papers accordingly (see 'Star' for November 11th, 1876, copying, however, a Jersey paper), but in spite of these occasional notes there is no satisfactory reason for suppos
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38  
39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Islands
 

Falcon

 

Peregrine

 

Norway

 

generally

 

Iceland

 
Channel
 

MacCulloch

 

considered

 

reason


occasionally

 

Jethou

 

killed

 

present

 
November
 

species

 

Island

 

pyramidal

 

constant

 

places


opinion
 

Falconidae

 

supply

 
residents
 
suited
 

speaking

 

permanent

 

Lanner

 

recorded

 

papers


Occasionally

 

occasional

 

satisfactory

 

suppos

 

copying

 

Jersey

 

steamers

 
Certainly
 

resort

 

Fauconniere


evidently

 

denoting

 
favourite
 
mentioned
 

purposes

 

excursion

 
breeding
 

selected

 
resident
 

difficulty