THE PEKEGBINE FALCON 



(Falco peregrinus) 



THE Peregrine Falcon is another of our rarer birds, which, 

 in spite of incessant persecution, still manages to hold its own, 

 although it is only found in the wildest and most inaccessible 

 districts. In the days of falconry the Peregrine, preserved 

 and cherished, was the daily companion of nobles and princes ; 

 now it is nothing but an outcast, exterminated from most 

 cultivated and inland localities, and driven to the wild fast- 

 nesses on our rockbound coasts. We generally meet with 

 him near the stupendous cliffs tenanted by countless sea-birds, 

 which furnish this bold Falcon with abundant food. He is a 

 thorough bird of the open, seldom frequenting woodland dis- 

 tricts, always preferring the moors and mountain sides, where he 

 can swoop down with lightning speed upon the unsuspecting 

 birds and animals. The Peregrine sometimes shows a strange 

 partiality for houses and cities ; and I have known many 

 instances of this bird taking up his quarters in some church 



