22 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



which I had already surmounted, I made the 

 best of my way, with a light bag, and a heavy 

 gun, to my quarters at the lodge. 



The myriads of gulls, puffins, guillemots, and 

 razor-bills, which generally inhabit the same 

 cliffs as the peregrine during the breeding-season, 

 furnish a constant supply for itself and young 

 during the summer ; while the various flocks of 

 wild ducks and water-fowl which visit this coun- 

 try on the approach of winter and haunt our 

 inland lakes and estuaries on the coast, are fre- 

 quently attended by a falcon of this species, 

 who, on these occasions, finds himself in the 

 midst of plenty, seldom failing to decimate his 

 victims if allowed to remain sufficiently long 

 without molestation. He usually abstains from 

 striking his prey immediately over the water, 

 unless it should happen to be a teal or some 

 other bird of small size. I had many oppor- 

 tunities, about two years ago, of observing the 

 tactics of a fine female peregrine, who had taken 

 up her quarters for the winter in a secluded part 

 of the demesne of Parsontown, which was fre- 

 quented by numbers of wild ducks. Two rivers, 

 the Birr and the Brosna, here unite their waters. 

 The former, rapid and turbid, rises in the distant 

 mountains, and flows in a distinct current, until 

 gradually lost in the dark yet transparent stream 



