74 NEST OF THE PEREGEINE FALCOK 



falconers preferring to remove them from the nest before they are fully fledged, and othei'S 

 caring little for their Falcons nnless they are caught while in the vigour of full age. The 

 training which is bestowed on the latter birds is necessarily much longer than that which 

 is needful for treating the young, but as the birds are stronger and fiercer in character, 

 they are well suited for taking the larger game, such as herons and hares. To take the 

 young Peregrine from the nest is a difficult business, and one which needs the possession 

 of a strong arm and a cool head, for the nests are always built on a shelf of some 

 precipitous rock, and the person who desires to take the young has the choice of 

 climbing from below or of being lowered from above by means of ropes. On account 

 of these rock-loving propensities, the bird is known in some parts of England as the Cliff 

 Hawk. 



When captured at adult age, it is generally enticed into the toils by means either of 

 a decoy of its own species, or by the aid of a great brown owl, which is trained to flutter 

 in such a manner as to draw the attention of the Falcon. All the hawk tribe seem to 

 be animated with a deadly hate of the night-flying rapacious birds, and never can see an 

 unfortunate owl without longing to attack it. No sooner, therefore, does the Falcon see 

 the owl, than it darts fiercely at its intended victim, and is captured between the meshes 

 of the net which is cunningly set for the purpose. There is another most ingenious mode 

 of taking this Falcon by the aid of the great grey shrike ; but as an account of that mode 

 of Falcon-catching will be given in the histoiy of the shrike, it will only be casually 

 mentioned in the present page. One of these birds was caught in a very curious manner. 

 A gentleman heard a number of jays making a very great chattering, as if wrought up to 

 the highest pitch of excitement, and on going to the spot, he found that a Peregrine Falcon 

 had pounced upon a crow, and had contrived to entangle itself in such a manner, that it 

 could neither loosen its grasp of its victim nor carry it away. 



The eggs of this bird are generally two or three in number, although a fourth is some 

 times known to be laid in the same nest. The fourth egg is, however, generally addled, 

 but the mother Falcon does not fling it out of her cradle, as is the case with many 

 birds. The colour of the egg is a very pale reddish brown, usually mottled with a darker 

 tint. The young are most voracious creatures, and are kept very constantly supplied with 

 food by the exertions of their parents. A very curious instance of sagacity in this bird 

 was observed by Mr. Sinclair. When a farmer was being lowered by a rope towards the 

 nest, both parents flew from the spot, the female hovering close to her young, and the 

 male circling high in the air with the prey in his mouth. Not desiring to come down to 

 the nest, the male bird dropped from his beak the morsel of food, which was then caught 

 by the female as it fell through the air, and conveyed to her young. 



Even in captivity, the greatest regularity of feeding is needful, for if the supply of 

 food be not given with the utmost punctuality, the bird never attains its proper 

 development of colour or size, the primaries of the wing and the quill feathers of the 

 tail being marked with light bands, and the wings being at least an inch shorter than 

 their proper length. Such birds are termed "tainted," and are comparatively useless in 

 falconry, because their wings are too short to permit the full power of flight, and their 

 quills are apt to be soft and weak in the shaft. 



The term Peregrine is of Latin origin, and signifies a pilgrim. This title has been 

 given to it because it is in the habit of making very long journeys, and is consequently 

 found spread over a very large extent of country. In its adult state, the Peregrine Falcon, 

 is very elegantly coloured. The top of the head, the back of the neck, the primaries 

 and a stripe beneath the eye, are of a deep black-brown ; the upper parts of the body are 

 ashy brown, the latter tint becoming fainter in each successive moult, and being always 

 marked with a series of dark bars upon its back, tail, and wing coverts : the breast is 

 white, deepening into a chestnut hue, and being barred transversely with reddish-brown 

 upon the breast, and marked on the front of the throat with longitudinal dashes of 

 very dark brown. The remainder of the under plumage is greyish-white, profusely 

 barred with dark-brown. When young the plumage is altogether of a more ruddy hue, 

 and the birds are termed, in the language of falconry, Eed tercels, or Eed Falcons, 

 according to their sex. 



