At Home with Wild Nature 



the golden plover and the rock dove, both of which are 

 in a position to give their pursuer a severe test in speed 

 and endurance on account of the swift and powerful 

 character of their flight. I have watched a member of 

 the latter species give a peregrine a hot race for home 

 and beat him into the sheltering darkness of a sea cave, 

 which the winged murderer refused to enter. 



Hardly any kind of feathered prey comes amiss to a 

 hungry peregrine, and the bird will strike down with 

 equal indifference sea swallows, peewits, puffins, young 

 seagulls, partridges, grouse or wild duck. On rare 

 occasions Nemesis overtakes this fierce messenger 

 of death. Some years ago one was washed up 

 dead on the sandy shores of Scolpaig Bay, in North 

 Uist, with its powerful talons inextricably fixed in the 

 back of a wild duck. In this connexion it may be men- 

 tioned that in the days when it was legal and remunera- 

 tive to catch and train young falcons for hawking 

 purposes, peculiar advantage was taken of the bird's 

 sharp, hooked claws. If a family of nestlings could 

 be seen from the top of a cliff in the old nest 

 of a raven, or huddled together on a ledge, their 

 would-be captor never troubled to make a descent 

 of the dizzying precipice for them. He was aware 

 that when touched on the head or shoulders by 

 anything calculated to arouse their fear or resentment 

 young peregrines roll backwards over and strike 

 savagely upwards with their feet. Possessed of this 

 knowledge he took full advantage of it by securing a 

 large ball of sheep's wool and tying it to the end of an 



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