344 FALCO COMMUNIS, PEREGRINE FALCON 



female, on looking over the clifiF, sitting on the nest, and but five or six 

 yards distant. She eyed him fiercely for an instant, and then, scram- 

 bling from the nest to the edge of the narrow shelf supporting it, 

 launched into the air. In a twinkling Mr. Bennett's unerring aim sent 

 her tumbling dead at the foot of the precipice, several hundred feet 

 below. The nest contained four eggs, which were soon safely secured, 

 and the body of the female was obtained from the foot of the cliff. The 

 male soon coming about was shot at, but he was too shy to come within 

 range, excepting once, when the gnn was being reloaded. The eggs 

 were all laid after April 9th, and their contents showed, April 19th, that 

 they had been incubated but a day or two. Incubation seems, in this 

 case, to have commenced several weeks later than usual, which may 

 have been owing to the late snows and unusual coldness of the weather 

 this year during the first half of April. 



" The situation of the eyrie was near the highest part of the mount- 

 ain, about one-third of the length of the mountain from its south end, 

 on a narrow shelf in the rock, eight or ten feet from the top of a nearly 

 perpendicular cliflf, 150 or 200 feet in height, and was inaccessible ex- 

 cept to a bold climber, and at one particular point. The nest was 

 merely a slight excavation, sufiQcient to contain the eggs; no accessory 

 material had been added. The site had been previous y occupied, and 

 probably tor several years; and for weeks before tlie eggs were laid 

 was carefully guarded by the bold and watchful birds." 



These four eggs averaged 2.22 long by 1.68 broad, with 2.32 by 1.71, 

 and 2.16 by 1.65 as maxima and minima, respectively. The smallest 

 was larger than the one measured by Dr. Brewer (2.00 by 1.56), which 

 he obtained in Labrador. They also varied considerably in contour, 

 and in heaviness and extent of coloration they showed a series from the 

 darkest and most nearly uniform to the lightest and most sparsely 

 marked, in which latter the contrast between the white ground and the 

 blotches was striking. Of the darkest egg the writer says: "The gen- 

 eral color is chocolate-brown, darker and more dense and uuifoim about 

 the ends, the part about the middle being lighter, varied with small 

 irregular blotches and specks of a darker tint than the ground color. 

 The color of the smaller end is a nearly uniform dull red ochre. There 

 is also an irregular belt of scattered and apparently veiy superficial 

 blotches of very dark brown or nearly black." Two other eggs, as 

 already mentioned, graded toward the lightest, which is thus described: 

 " The greater end of the egg, which in the eggs of most birds is the end 

 most subject to markings and to the greatest depth of color, is white, 

 sprinkled sparingly with reddish specks ; while the smaller end is deep 

 bright brick-red, here and there relieved by small si)ecks and patches 

 of white ground color. About the middle of the egg the colors are iu 

 more equal proportions, the white patches becoming larger on the 

 smaller end toward the middle, and the red patches on the larger end 

 increase toward the same i)oint, where the colors meet and become 

 mixed in irregular patches of various sizes, from mere dots to blotches." 

 Viewing such variation as this, in size, form, and color, among eggs 

 of the same clutch, we see how utterly worthless are such discrepancies 

 as a means of deciding a mooted question of specific identity, or the 

 reverse, in nearly-allied birds. Yet some ornithologists will compare a 

 single egg with another, gravely note the diliV'rences, and tliereupon 

 ]>roceed to an argument with still denser gravity. Corresponding dis- 

 crepancies in the mode of nidification serve as a basis for equally flimsy 

 arguments. Take the present case of the Duck Hawk, breeding on 

 Mount Tom on the bare ground, while in other instances it is known to 



