﻿NOTES 
  ON 
  THE 
  BIRDS 
  OF 
  ANGLE 
  SEA. 
  13 
  

  

  On 
  June 
  9th 
  we 
  visited 
  an 
  old-established 
  nesting-place 
  of 
  

   the 
  Peregrine 
  Falcon 
  in 
  a 
  bay 
  near 
  Porth 
  Wen, 
  but 
  we 
  neither 
  

   saw 
  the 
  birds 
  nor 
  any 
  traces 
  of 
  their 
  slain 
  victims 
  on 
  the 
  cliffs. 
  

   Three 
  months 
  previously 
  (on 
  March 
  19th) 
  Mr. 
  Cummings 
  saw 
  

   the 
  falcon 
  here, 
  and 
  last 
  year 
  saw 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  nest 
  at 
  this 
  place. 
  

   A 
  fisherman 
  at 
  Bull 
  Bay, 
  who 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  had 
  nested 
  here 
  

   as 
  long 
  as 
  he 
  could 
  remember, 
  told 
  us 
  that 
  he 
  believed 
  they 
  had 
  

   been 
  shot 
  this 
  year 
  by 
  a 
  gamekeeper. 
  The 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  

   few 
  surviving 
  Peregrines 
  is 
  deplorable, 
  especially 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  

   where 
  seafowl 
  abound 
  and 
  little 
  game 
  is 
  preserved. 
  It 
  is 
  satis- 
  

   factory, 
  however, 
  to 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  pair 
  on 
  the 
  eastern 
  coast, 
  

   which 
  we 
  saw 
  in 
  1902, 
  were 
  again 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  place, 
  and 
  that 
  

   at 
  least 
  one 
  other 
  pair 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  coast. 
  At 
  one 
  spot 
  

   on 
  this 
  coast 
  a 
  female 
  flew 
  out 
  barking 
  furiously, 
  followed 
  by 
  a 
  

   male 
  Merlin, 
  which 
  stooped 
  at 
  her 
  several 
  times, 
  chasing 
  her 
  

   across 
  the 
  water. 
  She 
  paid 
  little 
  attention 
  to 
  her 
  small 
  assailant, 
  

   and 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  cliff, 
  only 
  to 
  repeat 
  her 
  excursions 
  again 
  and 
  

   again. 
  Whenever 
  she 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  cliff 
  she 
  took 
  up 
  her 
  

   position 
  on 
  a 
  commanding 
  piece 
  of 
  rock, 
  close 
  to 
  a 
  small 
  inlet, 
  

   and 
  continued 
  her 
  angry 
  barking. 
  When 
  we 
  reached 
  this 
  spot 
  

   the 
  male 
  left 
  the 
  rocks, 
  and 
  both 
  birds 
  flew 
  out 
  over 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  

   along 
  the 
  cliffs, 
  the 
  female 
  being 
  the 
  more 
  clamorous 
  ; 
  she 
  never 
  

   left 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  the 
  nest, 
  though 
  the 
  male 
  disappeared 
  

   for 
  a 
  time. 
  The 
  eyrie 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  niche 
  half-way 
  down 
  a 
  precipitous 
  

   cliff, 
  and 
  on 
  a 
  ledge, 
  surrounded 
  with 
  grass 
  and 
  Asplenium 
  mari- 
  

   num, 
  were 
  three 
  young 
  birds, 
  pink-skinned 
  as 
  peaches 
  and 
  with 
  

   their 
  quill-feathers 
  just 
  showing, 
  lying 
  prone, 
  apart 
  from 
  one 
  

   another. 
  Now 
  and 
  then 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  would 
  rear 
  itself 
  up 
  and 
  

   shuffle 
  awkwardly 
  on 
  its 
  tarsi 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  inches. 
  Within 
  ten 
  feet 
  

   of 
  the 
  nest 
  three 
  pairs 
  of 
  Jackdaws 
  were 
  feeding 
  young 
  in 
  crevices 
  

   in 
  the 
  cliff, 
  unharmed 
  by 
  the 
  Peregrines, 
  although 
  for 
  about 
  a 
  

   quarter 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  beyond 
  the 
  nest 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  cliff 
  was 
  a 
  perfect 
  

   shambles; 
  scattered 
  feathers 
  littered 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  showed 
  where 
  

   the 
  Falcons 
  had 
  plucked 
  their 
  victims. 
  Amongst 
  the 
  feathers 
  we 
  

   found 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  two 
  Arctic 
  Terns, 
  a 
  Common 
  Tern, 
  two 
  

   domestic 
  Pigeons, 
  a 
  Stock-Dove, 
  and 
  a 
  Cuckoo. 
  

  

  We 
  sought 
  in 
  vain 
  for 
  the 
  Chough. 
  The 
  Bra?i-big-goch, 
  as 
  

   the 
  natives 
  call 
  the 
  bird, 
  is 
  probably 
  extinct 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  coast, 
  

   although 
  a 
  Bull 
  Bay 
  fisherman 
  showed 
  Mr. 
  Cummings 
  an 
  old 
  

  

  