44 VIGNETTES OF NATURE 



Island a pair of stock doves came across the 

 sea, no mean fliers. They saw the wheeling 

 falcons, and fear doubled their wing-beats. 



I watched the hawks in their mad love 

 chase, and then the tiercel saw the doves, 

 closed his pinions, and fell from a thousand 

 feet to the terrified doves in a few seconds. I 

 have seen scout machines diving in France, 

 but the peregrines, one behind the other 

 in echelon, seemed to stoop with greater 

 speed than the fastest of them. 



In fear the gulls fled to their crannies in 

 the cliff face. There was a flurry of feathers 

 as the male hawk struck the leading pigeon; 

 he dropped it, swerved, and struck the 

 other, while his mate clawed his first kill. 

 Upwards, with the dove suspended in her 

 talons, she climbed. A heavy black raven 

 flapped to the dove whose blood was 

 staining the green sea as it lifted in the 

 swell. 



The peregrine screamed cheeky check, 

 check and dropped on the heavier pirate, 



