96 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



On account of this habit of lying in ambush the pere- 

 grine is comparatively seldom seen even in the localities 

 where it exists. In my own country'^ three or four pairs 

 breed annually within a radius of a few miles, though even 

 if one be on the hill almost daily one does not see on an 

 average more than one falcon in a month. Not very long 

 ago I saw a snipe pitch in some rushes, and scarcely had 

 he landed when a peregrine shot from its look-out station 

 about a quarter of a mile from the place, and went straight 

 for the spot at which the snipe had pitched. Here he 

 hung about, screaming, and actually beating the rushes 

 with his wings, after the manner of a harrier, but as the 

 snipe managed to keep its head through the fiery ordeal 

 and remained hidden, the savage bird presently returned 

 to its crag. I have no doubt, however, that the falcon 

 would watch the place till sundown, and that if the snipe 

 showed itself its fate would assuredly be sealed. 



Many of my readers will recall that during the war, 

 when pigeons were so much used as message bearers 

 between England and France, there was a great outcry 

 against the peregrine pirates which, becoming more 

 numerous, had carefully marked down the chosen routes 

 of the little message carriers, and were making terrible 

 inroads into their numbers. Repeatedly the examination 

 of peregrine eyries along the coast has proved that the 

 birds live chiefly upon puffins and valuable messenger 

 pigeons, the nests containing numbers of the dated rings 

 which enable identification of the domestic birds. 



The force with which the peregrine strikes down its 

 quarry is such that one wonders why the bird does not 

 dash itself into eternity in addition to its victim. Not 

 very long ago we were walking up grouse in the Perth- 

 shire Highlands when my friend and I called a halt in 

 order to allow the keeper, who had been chastising his 



* Written in Perthshire 



