ACCIPITRES. ( 1 ) FALCONIDAi. 



THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 



BLUE HAWK, HUNTING HAWK, GOSHAWK, GAME HAWK, 

 GREY HAWK, FALCON, COMMON FALCON. 



Falco peregrinus. 

 m)z Blue ^atok, 'cE^e Uiunting ll^atok, ^Ijc (J^o^ljatoli. 



A Faucoii Peregrine seemed she offremde londe. 



Chaucer, Squire's Tale. 



As a Faucoiifayre, 

 That once hath failed of her souse full neare, 

 Remounts againe into the open ayre, 

 And unto better fortune doth herself e prepay re. 



Spenser, Fairie Queen. 



This noble bird, which has obtained the name of the Hunt- 

 ing Hawk on account of its having been so much used in 

 former times for the chase, breeds annually on the sea-coast 

 of Berwickshire, in the neighbourhood of St. Abb's Head and 

 Fast Castle, where it has had its eyrie from time immemorial.^ 

 Writing in 1833 regarding a visit of the Berwickshire 

 Naturalists' Club to St. Abb's Head on the 19 th of June of 

 that year, Selby, the well-known ornithologist, mentions that 

 on reaching the cliffs immediately north of the Head, where 

 they rise from the sea in fine, broken, and perpendicular 

 faces to the height of several hundred feet, the attention of 

 the members was attracted to the cry of two Peregrine 

 Falcons — a male and a female — which w€re seen soaring at 



1 In an ancient Rental of Coldingliani drawn up after the battle of Falkirk in 

 1298, there is an entry of "two aeries of Falcons," which were doubtless .situated on 

 the adjoining coast. 



VOL. II. A 



