FALCONS. 105 



LETTER X. 



As a falcon from the rocky height, 



Her quarrj- seen, impetuous at the sight, 



Forth springing instant, darts lierself from high. 



Shoots on the whig, and skims along the skj'." 



Pope's Homer. 



Peregrine Falcon — Eyrie at Beachy Head — Lofty Pre- 

 cipice — Beachy Head in the Breeding Season — 

 Jackdaws — Guillemots and Razor-bills — Herring- 

 gulls — Kestrels — Waterfowl at Burton — " The 

 Duck-hawk" — Shooting a Friend for a Foe — 

 Unexpected Capture — The Hobby a Miniature 

 Peregrine — Hobby and wounded Partridge — A 

 good Specimen . — Occurrences of the Hobby in 

 Sussex. 



The sight of a falcon now-a-days — as the au- 

 thor of the " Fauna of Norfolk'' justly remarks — 

 " is somewhat like that of the rusty mail or the 

 monument of a departed hero — the memories of 

 the past crowd upon the mind, w^hen these birds, 

 now proscribed and almost annihilated amongst 

 us, were the favourites of ladies, and the com- 

 panions of princes." 



But even apart from romantic or sporting as- 



