THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 



293 



two Falcons were employed in the chase, and while the Heron avoided the stoop of one by changing 



his position suddenly, the other was ready to stoop from above, until, by a successful swoop, the Heron 



would be mastered and borne to the ground with the two Falcons in close embrace. Then was the 



time for the good falconer to be at hand to save his Hawks from the 



Heron. In a wild state the Peregrine feeds on Grouse of all kinds, 



Pheasants, Partridges, Ducks, Pigeons, Plovers, &c., but it does not so 



often visit the poultry-yard as the other Hawks, preferring the open 



country or the sea-coast. In this latter locality, the Falcon feeds on 



the various sea-birds, such as the Puffins, Auks, Guillemots, and as it 



flies back to its nest with food for its young, it will sometimes in very 



wantonness rip up a Gull or other sea-bird if it happens to get in the 



way as it rushes by. The nest is generally large, and composed of 



sticks and herbaceous plants, excepting in localities were none of the 



latter exist, when it is made of grass. The site chosen is some sea-cliff 



or high precipice inland, where there is sure to be some difficulty in 



reaching the nest, which is generally harried by means of a rope. They 



build in the same localities for years together, and Professor Newton 



gives an interesting record of such an occurrence,* when he mentions 



a hill in Lapland, where a pair of Falcons had a nest when it was visited 



by the French astronomical expedition in 1736, a nest being re-discovered 



in the same place in 1799 by Captain Skjb'ldebrand, and again by the 



late Mr. Woolley, in 1853. Near the site of its nest the Peregrine 



brooks no intruder, and will even attack an Eagle, an instance having 



been recorded of one of the latter birds being stunned and brought 



to the ground by a Peregrine, who broke its own wing in the attempt, 



and was liberated by the shepherds to mend its wing as best it could, 



ia gratitude for having delivered their aquiline enemy into their hands. 

 In Holland, whei'e until recent years hawking was largely carried 



on xmder the auspices of the king, there is a well-known place, called 



Valkenswaard, whei-e a good many Hawks are trapped every autumn 



during migration, and it is from the neighbourhood of this village that many of the most 



celebrated falconers have come. At the same time England has also produced many celebrated 



adepts at the art, which is generally carried on from father to son ; 

 and one of the Barr family, with a high reputation as a falconer, a 

 few years ago exhibited his trained birds in the neighbourhood of 

 London. The writer has also seen some fine sport in Huntingdonshire; 

 with Lord Lilford's Hawks, in a large extent of open country near 

 Great Gidding. 



The male Peregrine is of a bluish-grey colour, narrowly barred with 

 black, the wings darker ; the cheeks, ear-coverts, and moustache, black, 

 the entire sides of the head being sometimes of this dark aspect; 

 underneath, the body is white, with more or less of a reddish tinge, and 

 crossed with black bars ; tail grey, broadly barred with black and tipped 

 with white. The length is about fifteen inches, that of the female 

 about seventeen ; and the wing is fourteen inches and a half in length 

 instead of about twelve, as in the male. In plumage the hen bird is 

 veiy similar, but is generally of a richer rufous hue below. 



Besides the Peregrine Falcons there are a host of smaller species of the genus Falco, varying 

 much from the above birds in size and style of colour, but of exactly the same form, and having 

 much the same habits. The Hobby (Falco subbuteo) and the Merlin (F. Ksalon} represent 

 these smaller Falcons in the British Islands. 



HOODED FALCOX. 



FALCON h HOOD. 



* "Ootheca Woolleyaua," p. 93. 



132 



