176 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



concluded that the hen had been shot. Near by 

 were the remains of a Lapwing, evidently one of 

 the last birds taken by the luckless Peregrine, while 

 a few skeletons of Grouse were also lying near. On 

 climbing to the eyrie I found that two of the eggs 

 had been moved along the ledge a distance of 

 nearly two feet, and also found the mark of a pellet 

 on the rock with a corresponding groove in the 

 nest. It was plain that the keeper had crept up 

 the rock from the west side and shot the bird 

 while she was unsuspectingly brooding. On re- 

 ceiving the shot she had, in her agony, fluttered 

 along the ledge for about two feet, carrying two 

 of the eggs with her, and I could see the marks 

 made by her claws as she writhed in her death agony. 

 Numbers of her feathers were lying around, some 

 of the under-feathers being of extraordinary beauty 

 tinged with greenish yellow. 



To show how the eggs were found, I called for 

 a rope to be thrown to me, by which to pull up 

 the camera, and asked my companion to come up 

 also. However, the rock proved too much for him, 

 and after several desperate efforts he had to own 

 himself beaten. 



While at the nest I saw a Peregrine flying in 

 the far distance probably the cock but he did 

 not venture to come near to his former home. 

 [From " The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic 

 News."] 



