PEREGRINE FALCONS 249 



Sometimes, too, after she has settled down, the 

 male will fly into the eyrie and stand close 

 beside her. 



The Peregrine is a pugnacious fellow in that 

 it resents the propinquity (especially in the breeding- 

 season) of other birds worthy of its steel. The 

 Raven, sometimes found nesting really close 

 to its eyrie (in spite of many assertions to the 

 contrary), it .detests in particular, and there is 

 some evidence to show that in a comparatively 

 small rock or gorge Ravens have been driven from 

 their ancient retreat by a pair of Falcons in search 

 of quarters. When the Raven is attacked always 

 in mid-air, of course it turns over on its back and 

 thrusts upwards with its huge bill to ward off the 

 deadly stoops of its foe, while the moment it can 

 it seeks a refuge on the rocks. Its refuge, how r - 

 ever, is only temporary, for it has to be about and 

 doing, and this guerilla warfare continues day after 

 day, all day long at intervals, right through the 

 breeding-season. Occasionally only is a Raven 

 actually struck : this has been when it was not 

 quick enough in its "turn over," for my lord 

 Peregrine, fearless though he be, likes not the 

 prospect of impaling himself on that iron bill ; his 

 blow, to be effective from his point of view, 

 must be delivered on the back. I have never 

 known a Raven to be actually struck down : 

 at the worst he sustains a severe shock and 

 the loss of a few feathers. The Eagle is 



