The HUNTING FALCONS (Hierofalco), the most prized of the Falcon family, inhabit the more northern portions of the globe, and are at once recognisable by their very large bodies, strong and decidedly curved beaks, long tails, and the fact that the feet are only partially covered with feathers; in other respects they closely resemble other Noble Falcons. We have divided these birds into three groups, which we shall call respectively the Hunting, the Polar, and the Gier Falcons. The two former of these sections bear a close resemblance to each other as to plumage, and the young of all three are so much alike as almost to baffle even the eye of a practised naturalist. The plumage of the Hunting Falcon (Hierofalco candicans) is white, marked with longitudinal dark streaks, whilst that of the Polar Falcon (Hierofalco Arcticus) is white, with irregular dark blotches; as both species advance in years, these dark marks gradually fade, and the plumage becomes a most pure and beautiful white. In the young birds the back is greyish brown or deep grey, with very distinct streaks and spots; the feathers upon the top of the head have black shafts, and vary considerably in their shade; the wings and tail are broadly striped, and the lower parts of the body are fawn colour; the brown eye is surrounded by a bare greenish yellow ring. In the old birds the feet are pale yellow, the beak yellowish blue, becoming darker towards the tip, and the cere yellow; the feet of the young are blue. The plumage of the Gier Falcon (spelt also Ger, Jer, and Gyr), on the contrary, is deep greyish blue, striped with black upon the upper part of the body; the tail is light greyish blue, striped with a deeper shade; the quills are brownish black, the breast and belly are grey or yellowish white, marked with long dark streaks, varied upon the sides and hose by irregular spots. The coat of the young is dark brown above, and of a light greyish yellow beneath, streaked with a deeper shade. Nestlings of this species are scarcely distinguishable from Peregrine Falcons of similar age. All these three groups of Hunting Falcons are nearly of the same size; the females being about one foot eleven inches in length, and four feet in breadth; the tail measures about nine inches, and the wing fifteen inches.
The Hunting Falcon and the Polar Falcon both inhabit Greenland and Iceland; the Gier Falcon, on the contrary, is met with in the most northerly parts of Scandinavia, Russia, and Siberia, and, according to our own observations, is the only species of Hunting Falcon found in Lapland. We must speak collectively of the habits of these three groups, concerning whose respective peculiarities we are almost entirely without information. All appear to prefer such rocky localities as are in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea coast, and upon which hundreds and thousands of sea birds settle during the breeding season; nevertheless, they do not entirely avoid the wooded parts of the country, for such amongst them as are too young to pair make long excursions inland, even occasionally visiting the mountain ranges of the interior, amongst which the old birds are rarely or never seen. The attachment of these various species to their breeding places is very remarkable; they return to them with such unfailing regularity that we were once accurately directed where to look for an eyrie, even though our informant had neither seen the spot nor heard it spoken of for many years; in their other habits they closely resemble the Peregrine Falcon.
During the summer months they subsist upon sea birds, in the winter upon Ptarmigans, and, according to some naturalists, will devour hares, and live upon squirrels for whole months together. We were on one occasion for three days in the vicinity of the Nyken (two mountains much frequented by sea birds), and watched a pair of Gier Falcons come down morning after morning punctually at ten o'clock, in order to obtain their breakfast. This was very speedily accomplished; both took a rapid survey of the feathered swarm they were about to attack, and then, swooping down with unerring aim, carried off one bird after another until they had obtained the necessary supply. Holwell mentions having seen a Polar Falcon pounce upon two Sea Gulls at the same time, and bear them away in triumph one in each foot; they are also said to destroy Pigeons. At the close of the breeding season the Hunting Falcons often come down from their retirement and approach the dwellings of man, towards whom they exhibit but little fear. When winter approaches they follow the Ptarmigans to their retreats amongst the mountains, and so great is the dread in which the latter holds their cruel and insatiable enemy, that they will frequently endeavour to bury themselves in the snow, if safety by flight seems to be hopeless. When in pursuit of the squirrel their ordinary mode of attack would, of course, be impossible, as the creature is protected by the sheltering trees; the Hunting Falcons, therefore, at once change their tactics, and display a patience and cunning in watching for and stealing upon their victims that strikingly contrasts with their ordinary precipitate and open butchery.
According to Faber, the True Hunting Falcon builds its large flat eyrie amid the fastnesses of some inaccessible rock in the immediate vicinity of the ocean, whilst the Gier Falcon prefers to avoid all the labour of preparation by taking violent possession of the nest of some large Crow. The eggs of the Polar Falcon are laid about June or July, those of the Gier Falcon, according to Nardoi, are usually laid as early as April, though we have found them in the month of July. The colour and size of the eggs is very varied, but those of the Polar Falcon are largest, and have the roughest shell.
Some centuries ago a Danish vessel called the Falcon Ship was sent every year to bring these birds from Iceland, and live Falcons are still exported every year to Copenhagen. Large numbers are killed in Iceland and Greenland on account of the mischief they do, but in the north of Asia they are still reared and trained for the chase. In Lapland and Scandinavia they are never captured except for the naturalist. The Raven is the only feathered enemy against whose attacks the Hunting Falcons have to be upon their guard.
The WANDERING FALCONS (Falco) differ from the last-mentioned birds in the inferiority of their size, and the construction of the beak, which is smaller and more decidedly curved; the feet are not so entirely covered with feathers, and the tail is somewhat shorter in comparison with the wings.