114 FALCON AND HERON 



upon weaker ones, and incessant diligence in preventing 

 weeds from getting foothold. 



XXV 



It was frequently asserted by falconers of old that 

 Falcon and the heron, when attacked by the peregrine, 

 Heron threw herself on her back in the air and 

 defended herself with her rapier beak, sometimes 

 transfixing her assailant. Modern observers have 

 received this statement with discredit, and personally 

 I have never had an opportunity either of confirming 

 or refuting it ; but a friend, thoroughly trustworthy in 

 matters ornithological, has lately seen enough to 

 vindicate the veracity of old writers on falconry. At 

 Holkham, in Norfolk, he was lucky enough in the 

 spring of 1908 to witness the flight of a wild pere- 

 grine at a heron. The object of the falcon was to get 

 above its quarry ; that of the heron to maintain the 

 advantage ; so they both rose to a great height. Time 

 after time the falcon got the upper hand, and promptly 

 stooped; each time the heron threw its neck right 

 along its back, presenting its beak vertically at the 

 peregrine, who sheered off, but renewed the assault 

 several times. Finally the heron made good its retreat 

 to some sheltering trees. The only respect in which 

 this bird's behaviour differed from the traditional 

 manner was that it did not throw itself on its back 

 to use its beak simply turned its neck. 



Talking of wingmanship brings to mind a blunder 

 committed in one of the earlier volumes of this 



