54 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA 
peregrine falcon stooped from the sky, coming down- 
ward and directly behind the whirring partridge, he 
passed by me swift as the leaden shower I had just sent 
in vain after poor Bob White; overtaking but missing his 
quarry before it had flown two hundred yards. It seem- 
ed to me that the falcon must have flown with at least 
four times the speed of the partridge, and that he flew 
at least a half mile while the latter was going two hun- 
dred yards. 
That bird was bagged that day by neither shooter nor 
hawk. I marked it down; but I had not the heart to 
flush and shoot at it again when it had escaped the leaden 
missiles hurled after it, and the sharp talons of the hun- 
gry falcon that followed in their wake.” (1887). 
Next came this extended note in ‘Birds Observed in 
Alabama”’: 
“Rare. Gererally seen in autumn and winter, in the 
wake of the wild duck. His presence is a good indica- 
tion that there are ducks somewhere not far distant. It 
has occurred to me once to see one of these falcons cap- 
ture a tame pigeon. There were two of them together, 
tiercel and falcon, male and female, as might be easily 
seen from their difference in size. They fell like thun- 
derbolts from the clouds; the pigeons, the object of their 
pursuit, perceived them and took wing; the female falcon 
leading struck a pigeon and, fastening to it, was borne 
downward some distance; but, making her hold secure, 
she rose with her quarry and flew more than half a 
mile, lighting on the top of a tall gum (liquidambar). 
Two or three years ago I witnessed another exciting 
chase of these tigers of the air, after my pigeons. Again 
came a pair, tiercel and falcon; this time, however, the 
pigeons discovered their pursuers in time to rise above 
them. This advantage was not maintained long, for 
both falcons, following swiftly behind and below their 
destined quarry, began to “ring” or ascend in rapid cir- 
cles; the male got his “pitch” first, but before he had 
attained it, the pigeons were perhaps two hundred yards 
away and imagined themselves safe; but to close his 
long, pointed wings, and to dash through their terrified 
