SHOOTING A FRIEND FOR A FOE. Ill 



brooks in the open country : indeed the first 

 intimation I have frequently received of the pre- 

 sence of the peregrine at Burton, has been the 

 sudden appearance of several "wisps of snipe," 

 even in open weather, among the low meadows at 

 a considerable distance ; and little parties of teal 

 and wild ducks congregating at every turn of the 

 river, where the high banks afforded them a 

 chance of concealment, and where, though com- 

 paratively exposed to greater danger, they might 

 be found until the death or expulsion of the 

 enemy from their old quarters. 



Specimens of this falcon have been shot near 

 Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford, Pevensey, and Rye, 

 in the eastern, and in the neighbourhood of Chi- 

 chester, Petworth, and Arundel, in the western 

 division of the county. It has also occurred 

 occasionally, though rarely, in the wooded portion 

 of the weald. A friend of mine has in his posses- 

 sion a specimen of this bird which was shot in 

 that part of the country by a farmer, who mistook 

 it for a wood-pigeon, immense flocks of which 

 abound there during the acorn season. On the 

 present occasion the man was endeavouring to 

 protect his ripe peas from their depredations, and 

 for this purpose, having concealed himself behind 

 a tree, and placed a stuffed pigeon, as a decoy, in 

 the middle of the field, he awaited the arrival of 



