132 Poachers and Poaching. 



for centuries ; and the conservatism of birds 

 especially birds of prey is quite remarkable. Of 

 this two instances may be given. In Cotheca 

 Wolleyana it is recorded that a peregrine falcon's 

 nest on a hill called Arasaxa, in Finland, is men- 

 tioned by the French astronomer Maupertius as 

 having been observed by him in 1 736. In 1 799 it 

 was rediscovered by Skjoldebrand and Acerti. 

 Wolley himself found it tenanted in 1853, and 

 by examining the remains of a young bird lying 

 near the nest, proved that it belonged to this 

 species. It is probable, therefore, that this par- 

 ticular eyrie had been used by the same species 

 of falcon for one hundred and seventeen years. 



The following is another instance, hardly less 

 remarkable, though 'having reference to an al- 

 together different kind of bird. The particular 

 incident is well known to naturalists, and perhaps 

 the latest rendering of it is that by the Nestor of 

 British ornithology, Professor Newton. He 

 says : " When the blue titmouse has taken 

 possession of a hole, she is not easily induced 

 to quit it, but defends her nest and eggs with 

 great courage and pertinacity, puffing out her 

 feathers, hissing like a snake, and trying to repel 



the fingers of the intruder The branch 



containing the nest may even be sawn off and 

 conveyed to a distance (a cruel experiment) 

 without the mother leaving it, and cases have 

 been known in which, when this has been done, 



