Northern Observations of Inland Birds 91 



be astir and saw a " large hawk " swoop down at the 

 pigeons, carrying one of them away. Several weeks later, 

 when a lumber room was being cleared, five dead fantails 

 were found in the chimney, which had been kept closed. 

 Undoubtedly the poor birds had fallen backwards into 

 the gloomy orifice from sheer terror on the falcon's various 

 descents, and having no way of escape on meeting the 

 trap door below they had perished miserably. 



One of these peregrines (presumably) struck a kitten 

 at the threshold of a cottage where a woman was doing 

 her washing, while her child was playing beside her. 

 The kitten, in fact, had just left the child's arms when 

 the falcon swooped down upon it, striking with such 

 force that kitten and falcon together were borne headlong 

 into the house, meeting the foot of the staircase with 

 a thud. 



The falcon was at once attacked by the mother of the 

 kitten, while the woman also ran to the rescue, but in an 

 instant the bird was up and away, evading both of them, 

 and bearing its prize with it. 



This stands out in my memory as the most unique case 

 I have come across illustrating the daring of the peregrine, 

 and detailing the incident to a keen and well-informed 

 ornithologist, an interesting discussion followed as to 

 what would have happened had no human interference 

 occurred — that is, had the peregrine and the mother of 

 the kitten been left to fight it out. We were agreed 

 that the falcon would have retaliated, and, having been 

 assailed, would duly have become the assailant, but we 

 could not agree as to what the outcome of the contest 

 would have been. It is, of course, impossible to arrive 

 at any conclusion, but the respective points of view may 

 prove of interest. My friend held that no peregrine on 

 earth would stand a fair chance against so formidable 

 an adversary as a cat — that is, a cat fighting for one of 



