172 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



such an elevation that it was only by lying 

 down on their backs, and placing their hands 

 above their eyes, so as to screen them from the 

 rays of the sun, and at the same time contract the 

 field of vision, that the spectators could keep 

 them within view. At last, just as they had be- 

 come almost like specks in the sky, they were 

 observed to pass rapidly towards the north-east, 

 under the influence of a strong south-west wind ; 

 and were soon completely out of sight. Some 

 days elapsed without any tidings of the truant 

 falcon ; but before the week had expired, a parcel 

 arrived at Rossmore Park, accompanied by a 

 letter bearing a Scotch postmark. The first 

 contained the dead body of the falcon : the latter 

 the closing chapter of her history from the hand 

 of her destroyer, a farmer who resided within 

 ten miles of Aberdeen. He was walking through 

 his grounds when his attention was attracted by 

 the appearance of a large hawk which had just 

 dashed among his pigeons, and was then in the 

 act of carrying one of them off. Running into 

 the house he returned presently with a loaded 

 gun, and found the robber coolly devouring her 

 prey on the top of a wheat-stack. The next 

 moment the poor falcon's wanderings were at an 

 end ; but it was hot until he had seen the bells 

 on her feet that he discovered the value of his 



