INCIDENT IN IRELAND. 25 



Killeen Bog, about a mile off. She soon singled 

 out one, a duck, who, as if aware of her danger, 

 suddenly quitted her companions and endeavoured, 

 by making a wide circuit, to attain a greater 

 elevation. This manoeuvre brought both her 

 and the falcon again within view, and nearly over 

 the spot where I was standing. Little did I 

 think of my own dead or wounded birds in the 

 absorbing anxiety of that moment. It was 

 already growing dark, and I feared lest, after all, 

 I should not be a witness to the termination of 

 the chace. The falcon was just then above her 

 quarry, in a favourable position for dealing the fatal 

 stroke, but evidently waiting until the latter had 

 cleared the banks of the river. Another mo- 

 ment and down she came, the sound of the blow 

 reaching my ears distinctly, and as the duck 

 tumbled through the air, head over heels, into 

 the callows on the opposite side of the Brosna, 

 I saw her conqueror descend with closed pinions 

 just above her, until an intervening bank of 

 sedges shut them both out from my view. 



Of all the incidents which can occur in the 

 wanderings of an ornithological sportsman, per- 

 haps such an example as this of the powers of 

 the falcon, unchecked by any artificial influences, 

 is one of the most exciting. The performances 

 of trained hawks, even under the most favour- 



c 



