90 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



or not caring if it does see him. More than once I have 

 been astounded at the boldness of this bird, for one or 

 two I have come across seemed actually not to recognize 

 man as a creature to be feared. The incidents I am 

 about to describe will illustrate this point. 



Some years ago when I was living in the Pennines a 

 pair of falcons took up their abode in some crags about 

 eight miles from the village, but we were very soon to 

 learn that this distance did not count for much. 



The peregrine was so rare a visitor that no one sus- 

 pected its presence, but very early in the spring I was out 

 on the hills quite near the crags to which later the falcons 

 became attached, when I saw two peregrines flying from 

 the north. Reaching the tarn, which eventually became a 

 happy hunting ground for them, they separated, both of 

 them uttering loud, cackling calls which seemed to bear 

 a note of discovery. One of them made a wide detour 

 of the country, flying low over the heather, but at intervals 

 rocketting skywards, while the other pitched among some 

 crags where later they nested. I said to myself : *' Those 

 birds have just arrived, and I believe they are going to 

 nest here '' — a speculation which proved correct, but 

 since I did not wish the falcons to be disturbed I kept 

 the information to myself. 



Whence the two falcons had come there was, of course, 

 no way of telling, but subsequent events seemed to show 

 that they had journeyed from a region where man was 

 an unknown quantity. I was, unfortunately, absent 

 from the locality for some weeks immediately succeeding, 

 but in the meantime the peregrines earned a name for 

 themselves. A neighbouring rector possessed a number 

 of fantail pigeons, and early in the spring it was noticed 

 that their numbers were rapidly decreasing. Rats and 

 cats were suspected till one day, with the very first 

 streak of daylight, a servant of rare virtue happened to 



