52 GYR-FALOON.

so in Ireland, the late Jolin Templeton records a single
Specimen; and a letter addressed to Mr. Thompson,
of Belfast, so late as February, 1837, from J. Stewart,
Esq., mentions a specimen killed in a rabbit-warren
close to Dunfanaghy. It is truly a northern and maritime
species, maritime, most probably, from the abundance
of food which is generally found around the rocky shores
of its principal range—the breeding resort of numberless
sea-fowl.

The mauners, flight, and cry, approach very closely
to those of the peregrine; it is even a more daring bird,
and, like it, delights to have its eyrie on some precipitous
cliff, overhanging the sea. The nest, according to Mr.
Audubon, is composed of sticks, sea-weeds, and mosses,
but the eggs seem not yet authentically known, though
we have some descriptions of them as resembling those
of the ptarmigan. Upon any one approaching the nest,
it becomes very clamorous, descending on the aggressor
in sudden swoops. Dr. Richardson writes, “A pair of
these birds attacked me as I was climbing in the vicinity
of their nest, built on a lofty precipice, on the borders
of Point Lake. They flew in circles, uttering loud cries
and harsh screams, and alternately stooping with such
velocity, that their motion through the air produced a
loud rustling noise: they thrust their claws within an
inch or two of my head.”

Their food is both the small animals and sea-fowl
in their vicinity, but they also make more extended
excursions inland, where the grouse and other game
form a favourite and much sought-after repast; and,
in the fur countries, they follow the partial migrations
of the ptarmigan.