168 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



Towards the end of September the cold winds 

 telling of autumn warn these delicate little summer 

 visitors that they must be moving South, and by 

 the end of the month they all have departed for 

 sunnier climes, till the voice of spring once 

 more calls them North. 



THE PEREGRINE FALCON 



IT is a most regrettable fact that the noble Peregrine 

 is fast decreasing as a nesting species in this country. 

 This is due to a great extent to the constant warfare 

 waged against it by nearly all gamekeepers, many 

 of them acting under orders from their masters, who 

 are ready to sacrifice the Peregrine for the sake of 

 a few additional Grouse on the Twelfth. 



In one Scottish county, where the ground is emin- 

 ently suited for them, I have heard of only two pairs 

 attempting to nest during recent years sad to say, 

 with little success. In one instance a keeper 

 boasted of killing a Peregrine on the wing with a 

 rifle, though he had absolutely no excuse for this 

 contravention of the Wild Birds Protection Act, as 

 the birds were nesting in a deer forest, where they 

 are of great use to the sportsman by keeping down 

 the numbers of Grouse. 



This year I visited, on April 24th, a rock 

 some forty feet high on the summit of a 

 mountain, where the birds usually attempt to 

 nest. The rock stands nearly 2,000 feet above sea- 

 level and commands a wide outlook, especially 

 eastwards, where a splendid view is obtained of 

 the North Sea some twenty miles distant. On the 

 west side the rock is quite insignificant, and, in fact, 



