THE REVIVAL OF FALCONRY. 77 
old birds of a Peregrine’s nest on Loch Goil, which has existed for 
centuries and produced the finest falcons on record, were shot, 
aad the young ones left to perish miserably by starvation. One of 
my falconers visited the nest just too late to save them. I believe 
this mischief was done for “collecting” purposes, though Scotch 
gamekeepers, as such, are terrible destroyers of the noble bird that 
is really their best friend and ally. I will not here enter upon the 
question whether the spread of the grouse-disease is not purely 
and simply attributable to the ruthless destruction of Nature’s 
surgeon, the Peregrine, by people who think themselves wiser than 
Nature; but it is a fact that there are Peregrine’s eyries on the 
west coast, the only remains round which (excepting an occasional 
Rock Pigeon) are those of the gamekeeper’s deadliest enemy, the 
Hooded Crow. Much good might be done if ‘The Zoologist’ and 
‘ The Field’ would decline to chronicle the slaughter of hawks and 
to pander to the vanity of their destroyers. 
The senseless rage for “ British-killed specimens” of all British 
birds is the curse alike of the falconer and of the true naturalist: 
Why not have our “ British” specimens flying about round us, so 
that we may, as lovers of Nature, watch and study their habits, 
instead of doing our best to complete the extinction of any species 
particularly rare or particularly beautiful? Surely continental skins 
are all we collectors—for [ am a collector as well as a falconer— 
need require; and the fashion once changed, the supply would 
very soon increase to meet the demand. Il know of a small marsh 
in France where, at the proper season, you may see two hundred 
Hobbies in sight at once, hawking the large dragonflies, like so 
many Swallows. 
But I am digressing. ‘Ten years ago there were in England, to 
the best of my knowledge, but three professional falconers. An 
attempt was made, a little later, to start a Club and School of 
Falconry, but no professional falconer of credit was then available. 
The French “Champagne Hawking Club,” of which M. Werlé was 
the head, had to be broken up, in great measure because they 
could not get on with their faleconer, and could not supply his 
place. At the present time we have in England at least nine 
professional falconers, of whom four are in my own service, 
and available to be sent with hawks (of which I have about 
fifty) to any suitable localities where the sport would be 
appreciated. It need not be thought that these four were got 
