108 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



hood a pair of ravens annually rear their young ; 

 and the kestrel may be seen fluttering along the 

 margin, or dropping over the edge of the preci- 

 pice on his return to his own little establishment 

 from a mousing expedition into the interior. 



All these birds, with the exception of the raven, 

 occasionally fall a prey to the peregrine ; his ra- 

 pacity when pressed by hunger or the calls of an 

 importunate family, is equalled only by his cou- 

 rage and audacity. I have seen him strike and 

 carry off a herring-gull, apparently with the most 

 perfect ease, and it would appear that he does not 

 scruple to make a meal of his congener, the kes- 

 trel, in situations where the latter bird happens to 

 be unusually abundant. A writer in the * Zoolo- 

 gist,'* who seems to have had excellent oppor- 

 tunities of observing the peregrine during the 

 breeding-season in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of his residence, and whose interesting communi- 

 cation on its habits is well worthy a perusal 

 says that it even evinces a partiality for the poor 

 kestrels which resort to the same cliffs on the 

 southern coast of the Isle of Wight. 



The peregrine falcon is seldom seen in Sussex 

 during the summer months, the interior of the 

 county offering, as I have said, no spot favourable 



* The Rev. C. Bury. 



