118 PEREGRINE FALCON. 



The nest of the Peregrine is generally placed 

 on the face of some precipitous cliff, resting on a 

 shelve of the rock, on a tuft of vegetation, or in a 

 horizontal cleft. It is generally inaccessible to 

 climbing without some assistance, though, in a few 

 instances, I have seen the shepherds take the eggs 

 or young without aid. The nest is composed of 

 a considerable bulk of sticks, coarse stems of 

 grasses or fern carried by the birds ; but in one 

 eyrie, which I have known for many years, placed 

 in a horizontal cleft, the eggs are laid on the bare 

 surface among the refuse of the roots of vegeta- 

 tion, a little scooping or working with the breast 

 rendering the spot slightly hollow. The female, 

 when sitting, is easily approached, though warning 

 is always given by the male of any stranger's 

 approach. At this time he appears high in the air, 

 flying rapidly round, and uttering his piercing 

 and shrill call of alarm. If the young are hatched, 

 the scene is different : both parents generally meet 

 the aggressor, and plainly tell that their boundaries 

 have been invaded. When the site of the nest is 

 approached, both fly rapidly across the face of 

 the cliff, passing and repassing the nest, eyeing 

 at one time the stranger, at another, the objects 

 of their care, and uttering meanwhile cries, 



chase to another Rail that was sprung, and still retaining 

 its first victim, secured the second with its other foot, 

 and bore both off together. 



