FIGHT BETWEEN A FALCON AND A HERON 263 



speed, the heron endeavouring meanwhile to make 

 good its escape. This took place several times, 

 with the result that the falcon was unable to strike 

 at the heron. What the result of the encounter 

 might have been it is impossible to say, as just 

 then the birds were scared by the appearance of 

 the carriage which my friend had gone to meet. 

 The falcon discontinued the attack and sailed 

 across the road in front of my friend, then struck 

 at a hare, which it missed, and disappeared, the 

 heron flapping off as fast as it could, doubtless 

 thankful for the unexpected interruption to the 

 duel. 



When relating the above to another friend of 

 mine, he informed me of an instance which had 

 occurred to him some years previously when 

 hawking, in which both falcon and heron were 

 lost in a thick wood and not recovered until 

 a long time afterwards, when their bodies were 

 found, the falcon being transfixed on the beak 

 of the heron. 



I regret that I did not make a note of 

 this occurrence at the time I was informed of 

 it. It is my custom to do so, and I was under 

 the impression that I had entered it in my note- 

 book or elsewhere ; but I am unable to find any 

 record, or I should have been able to state the 

 name of the place and approximate date. 



In some districts in England herons are by 

 the country people called cranes. I am at a loss 

 to account for the confusion of the names, since 



