GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



able circumstances although by many degrees 

 the noblest sport in which man has ever indulged 

 yet to a certain degree are wanting in that 

 unspeakable charm which attends the unrestrained 

 operations of Nature and adds such a keen zest 

 to the pursuits of her real votaries. Such at 

 least have always been my own feelings, and 

 acting under their impulse on this occasion, I 

 abandoned both dog and gun for a couple of 

 days, and relinquished for that time some of the 

 best snipe-shooting in Ireland, for the sake of 

 improving my acquaintance with the peregrine 

 in her winter-quarters. Many a cold and anxious 

 hour did I pass in a well-concealed position which 

 commanded a good view of both banks of the pool 

 not far from the junction of the two streams. 

 On one side spread the wide callows, or flooded 

 meadows, stretching away towards the great bog 

 of Killeen, with the fairy mountain of Knock- 

 shegowna* in the distance. Immediately in 

 front, near the edge of the river, stood a dead 

 tree, the topmost branch of which was the falcon's 

 favourite resting-place. There she sat, erect and 

 motionless, as if scorning to conceal her person, 

 and in full reliance on her own irresistible powers 

 whenever she chose to exert them. 



* See Crofton Croker's ' Fairy Legends of the South of 

 Ireland.' 



