28 OUR RARER BIRDS 



the Falcon's departure the terrified birds soon regain their 

 accustomed tranquillity. It is also a noteworthy fact that the 

 sea-birds display very little concern or alarm when the Pere- 

 grine is indulging in aerial gambols above their rocky haunts. 

 I have often seen Puffins sitting on the cliffs, not a stone's 

 throw from the dread destroyer, and the Terns and Gulls un- 

 heeding fly to and fro before his perching-place on the cliffs. 

 But he heeds them not his hunger is already satisfied. The 

 Peregrine is generally a very silent bird, and rarely utters a 

 sound except when its nest is menaced by danger ; then it is 

 noisy enough, and flies anxiously to and fro uttering a loud 

 chattering cry. 



The Peregrine feeds on those birds and animals which 

 its great speed and strength enable it to capture. It rarely 

 molests small birds, leaving them for the Merlin and 

 the Sparrow-hawk, and generally confines its attention to 

 such species as Grouse, Pigeons, small Gulls, Guillemots, 

 Puffins, Ducks, and Plovers. This fare is varied by an occa- 

 sional leveret or barn-door fowl, and quantities of rabbits. 

 I have never known the Peregrine eat carrion, and, so far 

 as my observations extend, it always feeds on birds and 

 animals which it has caught itself. The indigestible portions 

 of its food are cast up in pellets, and the head and big bones 

 of its victims are generally discarded. As is the case with 

 most birds of prey, the Peregrine has some particular spot to 

 which it conveys its captives, where it can eat them undis- 

 turbed. These places are strewn with feathers, bones, and 

 fur, and are often used by the same bird for years. In the 

 autumn months Peregrines follow the great armies of migrat- 

 ing birds to prey upon the weakly, the weary, and the unwary. 

 In this manner they often wander far from their usual haunts, 

 and frequently take up their abode on low-lying shores, where 

 the wildfowl congregate. Except in the breeding season the 

 Peregrine is for the most part a solitary bird. 



