FALCONID.E. 



347 



THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 



Falco peregrinus, Tunstall. 



This fine species, the Falcon, par excellence, of those devoted to 

 the ancient sport of hawking, is still fairly common throughout our 

 islands, and considerable numbers of immature birds, technically 

 known as Red or Passage-Hawks, annually occur between autumn 

 and spring, especially on the eastern side. From several of its 

 former haunts the Peregrine has been banished ; but many of 

 its eyries may still be found — though some of them are yearly 

 robbed — from Kent to Cornwall, and more frequently along the 

 coast of Wales ; while in the mountainous districts of the north of 

 England these are on inland-rocks as well as in sea-cliffs. In Scotland 

 the Peregrine is widely distributed over the mainland and the 

 islands, as far as the Shetlands. In suitable localities in Ireland it 

 may be considered quite a common bird ; and though, as a rule, 

 each pair asserts its supremacy over a tolerably wide area, yet eyries 

 exist there at no great distance apart. 



To the Fceroes the Peregrine is a rare visitor, and it has not been 



