PEREGRINE FALCON 295 



Genus FALCO, Linn^us. 



PEEEGEINE FALCON. 



Falco peregyinus, Tunstall. OrnWi. Brit., p. 1 

 (1771). 



With all the persecution which so beautiful and in- 

 teresting a bird as the Peregrine Falcon suffers from, it 

 is wonderful how it persistently returns to its old haunts, 

 and perseveres in rearing its brood, in the most dangerous 

 proximity to man, for during the winter many of them 

 are wantonly destroyed. 



This bird is used chiefly by falconers and sportsmen, 

 the male being called a "Tiercel," and the female a 

 " Falcon." 



In the Kev. J. Pemberton Bartlett's OrnitJioIogij of 

 Kent, 1844, he states that it is " not uncommon in 

 Komney Marsh, and occasionally to be seen about the 

 chffs near Dover." A male Peregrine was shot on 

 December 9, 1856, in the parish of Hailing, near 

 Rochester, and is now in the possession of the Eev. 

 C. W. Shepherd. Lord Clifton, of Cobham Hall, 

 writing in January, 1867, says : " A month or two ago 

 the keepers here, attracted by a great confusion among 

 some Rooks, came up and disturbed a large Peregrine 

 Falcon from a Rook which she had knocked down. 

 Soon afterward one of the men saw a Peregrine, prob- 

 ably the same, swooping down at some Pheasants that 

 were feeding. I myself also saw a very large Hawk 

 hovering about in the park, which, from its Falcon-like 

 shape, I conjectured was the same bird." 



Mr. F. D. Power, in his notes on the birds at Rain 

 ham, Kent, during September and October, 1868, says : 



