THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 43 



Once, when in close pursuit of a woodcock, the hawk dashed 

 through the drooping spray of a very large and fine weeping ash- 

 tree at the Falls, and both the pursued and pursuer, striking 

 against the stem of the tree, fell to the ground. We may attri- 

 bute this accident to the closely-drooping branches screening the 

 stem from sight ; for it is as surprising as interesting, to witness 

 the extreme adroitness with which the woodcock avoids contact 

 with the stems and branches, in its flight through a dense wood. 

 In this instance, the woodcock was the first to recover. After 

 being allowed a little breathing time, it was able to " shuffle off " 

 to the bank of the adjacent glen, and was generously permitted 

 to make its escape. The hawk, when lifted up, was bleeding at 

 the mouth, but soon recovered. On the other occasion, both 

 woodcock and falcon struck against a large stone in the river at 

 Stormont (county of Down), when the former, though not killed, 

 was quite disabled ; the latter was not much the worse. From three 

 to four brace and a half of woodcocks have been killed in the 

 course of a forenoon by my friend's hawks. During a winter, 

 about fifty brace have been killed by his best falcon in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Belfast. 



These falcons have been flown at, and have put into cover, 

 black game (old hens and young males, but not the old black 

 cock), red grouse, partridge, land-rails, wood quests, rooks, &c* 

 They have occasionally been flown at herons, which, in the olden 

 time, were the chief objects of pursuit, but were never brought 

 up regularly to fly at them. 



Of " Memorabilia," it may be noticed, that once, when for the 

 purpose of grouse-shooting, Mr. Sinclairewas encamped at Mounter- 

 lowney (on the borders of Tyrone and Londonderry), a grouse, pur- 

 sued by a falcon, was put down among the ropes of the tents. On 

 another occasion, an old cock grouse was put into the house of the 

 gamekeeper (Hercules Dean), in the Belfast mountains, and showed 

 fight against the falcon, — the only instance in which my friend 

 ever saw this done on the part of the pursued, — but a second 



* Falcons, or female birds, are preferred to males, from being " more wicked." 

 They wall readily fly at rooks or sea-gulls (L. ridibundus) in the fields, which the 

 males will not always condescend to do. 



