PEREGRINE FALCON. 



FALCO PEREGRINUS, Tunstall. 



Falco peregrinuSj Tunstall, Ornith. Brit. p. 1 (1771) ; Naum. 

 i. p. 285; Macg. iii. p. 294; Hewitson, i. p. 24; Yarr. 

 ed. 4j i. p. 53; Dresser, vi. p. 31. 



Faucon commun, Faitcon pelerin, French ; Wanderfalke, 

 German; Halcdn, Halcdn real, Spanish. 



This most noble of birds, although ruthlessly per- 

 I secTited by game-preservers in many districts, still 



breeds annually on various parts of the coasts of the 

 three kingdoms and their adjacent islands, as well as 

 in some inland localities, but in most of our English 

 counties is best known as an autumnal visitor, generally 

 following the annual southward migration of Wild-fowl 

 and Wood-Pigeons, and frequently, if not molested, 

 remaining during the winter and late into the spring 

 in places that afford a sufficiency of prey and facilities 

 for the capture thereof. 



I suppose that it would be a hopeless task to attempt 



to explain to any but those few who love sport in its 



higher sense for its own sake, the feeling that falconers 



entertain for the Peregrine, hallowed to them as she is 



I by tradition of ages, and their most " generous " and 



