IN GUSINA CAMP 73 



which there was quite a panorama. Below us the river 

 made almost a circle, ringing round a peninsula of sand 

 and grasses, where was a Russian cross, marking, as it 

 seemed, a burial-place. 



A peregrine falcon rose as we approached, and we 

 found the nest half-way down the cliff, just under where 

 I have put the star in the sketch. 



The nest, on a little projection in the grass cliff, was a 

 simple depression in the ground, scantily lined (though 

 it was scarcely a lining) with dead grass and a few bits of 

 down, no doubt from the sitting bird. 



It contained four eofQfs. 



The cliff at this point was not in the least degree pre- 

 cipitous : it sloped, rather than fell, to the water's edge. 

 But there was an entire absence of castings and of 

 remains of food about the nest. There was not a bone 

 or a feather to show the predatory nature of the occupant. 

 I afterwards found a few pellets about the Russian cross 

 — an obvious resting-place — but by the nest nothing. 



My readers will know that all the birds of prey, and 

 many others besides these, throw up or eject the indiges- 

 tible part of their food — the bones, fur or feathers — in 

 the shape of castings or pellets. You can see the bird 

 ' choke ' much as a ruminating cow does, and then the 

 pellet appears. Any one who has kept these birds in 

 captivity — any falconer, for instance, knows quite well 

 that it is no afood offering the bird a new meal until this 

 part of the last one has been got rid of. It is very 



