PEREGRINE FALCON. 189 



Family FALCONID^!. Genus FALCO. 



Sub-family FALCONING. 



PEREGRINE FALCON. 



FALCO PEREGRINUS (Gerini). 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, April and early May. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA : The Peregrine Falcon still 

 breeds locally on the maritime cliffs of England and 

 Wales, and even inland on high rocks in the wilder 

 districts of the north of England in Cumberland and 

 Westmoreland. In Scotland it becomes more plentiful, 

 and may be said to be pretty generally distributed in 

 all suitable districts, extending to the Hebrides and St. 

 Kilda on the west, and to the Orkneys and Shetlands 

 on the north. In Ireland the bird is equally widely 

 distributed ; in some parts even fairly common. 



BREEDING HABITS : The Peregrine is a resident in 

 our islands. Its haunts are the bare, treeless districts, 

 the long ranges of ocean cliffs, wild mountain sides, and 

 breezy moorlands. This bold Falcon, in my opinion, 

 pairs for life, and if it does not always frequent the 

 same nest every year, it usually returns to one favourite 

 spot to breed, often using several sites in turn. Certain 

 cliffs have been known to contain a Peregrine's eyrie 

 from time immemorial. The Peregrine is not a social 

 species, each pair confining themselves to certain dis- 

 tricts, or beats, which they appear to guard jealously from 

 intrusion. They are also much attached to particular 

 haunts, and will return to breed in them year by year 

 in spite of continued disturbance. The nest (if such it 

 can be called) is usually on a narrow ledge of a cliff, 

 frequently where the rocks overhang. The Peregrine 

 cannot be said to make a nest, the hollow in the soil on 



