1Q3 Mr, Montagu's Remarks on Falco cyaneus, 



the sixteenth of July, three pair of old birds were observed, 

 two of which had young evidently by their extreme clamour, 

 and by frequently appearing with food in their bills. The bold- 

 ness and excessive garrulity of one pair induced me to believe that 

 the nest was near at hand ; but it was not without two hours 

 strict attention to the actions of the parent birds, that I disco- 

 vered a single young one on the ground ; this appeared to be 

 too small to voluntarily leave the nest, which was probably within 

 a few feet, but which, from the almost impenetrable thickness 

 ©f the surrounding furze, 1 was not successful in discovering. 



On the 17th my researches were renewed, and after three 

 hours watching the motions of another pair, I discovered the 

 nest with three young; it was placed amongst the dead branches 

 of the thickest furze, about two feet from the ground, slightly 

 fastened between the upright or main stems, not in a fork. 



On the same day, close to where I found the single young 

 bird, two were observed to be busied, carrying materials for 

 building ; and by concealing myself in the bushes, I soon disco- 

 vered the place of nidification, by the continued returns of the 

 birds with something in their bills, for making their nest ; and, 

 upon examination, I found it was just begun. Extraordinary as 

 it may appear, there is great reason to believe that this was the 

 same pair from which I had the day before taken the single young 

 one. Is it not possible that the inclination of the parent birds 

 to propagate again, was the cause of the young leaving the nest 

 prematurely, in defect of a sufficient supply of food, and that 

 the other young perished ? A circumstance so singular can no 

 more be denied than positively asserted; but as I could never 

 observe more than one pair near the place, there is reason to be- 

 lieve, though extraordinary, that it was really the case, and that 

 1 they 



