Birds by Land and Sea 



rendered still more difficult by a fringe of dwarf 

 bushes at the edge. By lying on my stomach and 

 grasping the gnarled roots of the bushes, I was able 

 to look down and inward. The old bird now came 

 down so close that I knew that I was " warm " in 

 my search, but the fierce anxiety in the tone of her 

 cry made me fear lest she should drive at me in her 

 fury. Six feet below me, and slightly to the right, was 

 a bare ledge of rock, and a solitary green tuft which 

 grew from a crack in the rock had been flattened by 

 continuous sitting. At the side of the tuft was the 

 plucked and flayed body of a young lapwing, from 

 which the head and feet had been removed, although 

 it was still surrounded by the feathers. I had 

 watched unobserved for a few seconds, when a young 

 peregrine, fully fledged, came sideways along the 

 ledge. I continued perfectly still, and shall not forget 

 the sudden start of recognition when the bird's eye 

 met mine. Since the bird was born that fringe of 

 stunted bushes had been like a black eyebrow on the 

 brow of the cliff, but there had never before appeared 

 above it this strange thing with eyes in it looking 

 down upon the nesting ledge which the birds had 

 probably regarded hitherto as inaccessible. It was a 

 pleasure to note the fine spirit of this young peregrine. 

 There was no terror-stricken squawk and sudden 

 flight. It spread its claws out and dug them down, 

 lowered its head, which it continued to jerk from 

 time to time as if adjusting it for better vision, and 

 with sidelong, glance looked up with an eye full at 



218 



