PEREGRINE FALCONS 243 



raised, the pinion part being, however, actually in 

 contact with the ledge, and deflected outwards ; or 

 else they are neatly folded across the back, the 

 primaries of each one crossing. The tail is 

 compressed into a clean wedge. 



The eggs are very beautiful objects, and include 

 every, variety of the Kestrel's. One type is 

 creamy-red in ground, suffused with rich orange- 

 brown and purplish-red; another is yellowish-brown, 

 red roan, or leather-colour, with darker mottlings 

 of the same tint ; while a third is almost uniform 

 brick- or orange-red. A fourth is creamy- white, 

 sparingly freckled with rust-colour, or splashed, 

 clouded, and blotched with red ; and a fifth, 

 brownish-red, mottled with a darker shade, and 

 finely sprinkled with innumerable tiny dots almost 

 black in their intensity ; while a rare type is 

 heavily suffused all over with very dark brown. 

 On some specimens dark, heavy blots of super- 

 imposed colouring are noticeable ; or curious w^hite 

 patches of a chalky appearance. Eggs identical in 

 size and coloration in the same "set" are rare, 

 but the same hen produces a very similar type 

 year after year. As a whole, south coast eggs are 

 bright, finely-coloured specimens, the pink or 

 red brick-dust type being distinctly prevalent, 

 but as contrasted with eggs from Ireland, Wales, 

 and the North they are in the main decidedly 

 small, as indeed are the birds themselves : more- 

 over, our southern Peregrines are seldom of the 



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