AVERY BIRD COLLECTION 
on 
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a peregrine falcon hovering above the timber, as a fish 
hawk balances himself before he descends. I started a 
black duck from under a log not ten feet from me; as I 
proceeded other ducks left their hiding places and sought 
safety in flight. They were aware of the danger over 
head in the shape of the falcon, and all the frightful 
screams of the cunning hawk had not caused them to 
leave the water. My presence in their very midst had 
alarmed them and so soon as they were on the wing the 
falcon darted like lightning after them, and disappeared 
through the timber with their pursuer close behind them. 
“The capture of the killdeer by the falcon, in the 
manner above described, was certainly astonishing. It 
was evidently a ruse, as the bird did not see its enemy, 
’till like an apparition, he shot up just ahead and the two 
taloned feet were extended to received it. 
“The falcon resorts, also, to cunning when he seeks 
to frighten the ducks from the water by screams louder 
than I had supposed it possible for such a bird to make. 
“Sometimes the shooter is surprised by the presence 
of the peregrine falcon as he falls, as it were, from the 
very clouds. 
“Once, upon the coast of North Carolina, near Nay’s 
Head, I had shot several willets and-was reloading my 
muzzle, when a peregrine falcon stooped at a winged 
willet that stood in the water not twenty vards from me. 
The wounded bird escaped by squatting suddenly. The 
upward flight of the falcon seemed to me not less rapid 
than had been his descent. I had one barrel loaded, the 
contents of which I sent after him without apparent ef- 
fect, as he towered in a few seconds beyond the reach of 
danger. 
“One among other occasions, when this marauder has 
suddenly appeared on the scene, I shall never forget. I 
had one day scattered a covey of partridges Colinus vir- 
ginianus in an open field, and had hunted the single birds 
for some time with varied success; now killing, now miss- 
ing a bird. Finally my dog pointed in a sedge field, at 
least a half a mile from the nearest woods. I flushed the 
bird and missed it; almost simultaneously with the shot, a 
