Some British Birds of Prey. 
——__. 
By Tue Rev. G. R. Harrison, M.A. 
—_—_—___. 
Read befove the Society, April 21st, 1898. 
[ABSTRACT.] 
MONGST the by no means numerous British 
JAL Birds of Prey only the Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, 
Sparrow Hawk, Goshawk, and one or two of the Owls will 
be considered. 
The Peregrine Falcon is, undoubtedly, one of the com- 
monest of the larger birds of prey now found in the British 
Isles. He has been occasionally found in the Midlands, 
although I have never heard of his paying a visit to 
Burton. There is an authenticated case of one having 
been caught on Melbourne Common, Derbyshire, on 
November 25th, 1841, and I am told that two were 
shot near Leicester, in January, 1879. He is, certainly, 
destructive to game, and has a nasty habit of killing for 
the mere sake of doing so, cutting down his prey and 
leaving it. Near Rottingdean I once witnessed a fine 
