FALCOXID^. IGl 



the "West Country are a fine, white-chested race ; those of Lundy Island, 

 in particular, being famed for their courage. A cast of Hawks from this 

 picturesque island was in old days highly valued by falconers, and tlie 

 estimation in which the Lundy Peregrines were anciently held still 

 continues. 



Major Fisher, of The Castle, Stroud, informs us that, after an experience 

 of Peregrines from everj' part of the United Kingdom, extending over 

 thirty-three years, he has found the Lundy Peregrines by far the best for 

 falconers' use, and recently described in the ' Pield ' the good work of a 

 Palcon received as an eyas from the island. 



It is a matter of surprise that the Peregrine should still be able to maintain 

 itself in a few eyries on the northern and southern coasts of Devon, for (we 

 deeply regret to say) this fine bird is subjected to ceaseless persecution. 

 AVe have known cases of the young birds having been cruell}- shot upon the 

 nest, of many and many an old bird having been trapped and shot, and even 

 on Lundy Island, the ancestral stronghold of the Peregrines of the West, the 

 birds were driven away for a time by constant harrying of their nests; but 

 we are glad to be able to state that they have returned, and our information 

 from the island enables us to mention two eyries having been occupied there 

 this last spring (ISOl). The Peregrine is, moreover, so fearless a bird that 

 often, in curiosity, or through an interest in sport, it flies close up to the 

 shooter and does not alwaj's escape. "When gorged after a meal we have 

 known it perch in a lethargic state upon a bank or rail, and suffer Blackbird- 

 shooting school-boj's to approach and to do it to death. A splendid pair, 

 in our possession, were slain in this unworthy manner on the banks of the 

 Barnstaple river. Instances have l)eeii known of the I'eregrine nesting in 

 an old Baven's nest. Mr. W. Brodrick obtained some young Hawks from 

 a ]laven's nest near Ilfracombe. But the usual site of the eyrie is on a 

 clitt', often immediately beneath some overhanging rock, so that it becomes 

 a dangerous task for the cragsman who seeks to rob it, and the nest is 

 sometimes, like that of the Raven and Chough, ])laced ia a spot which it 

 is iin])ossible to reach. Tlie Peregrine likes society*, and chooses the 

 cliffs which are frequented by Herring-Gulls, Choughs, Jackdaws, and 

 Guillemots, who, as we have often noticed, seem quite indittbrent to 

 their dangerous neighbour, showing that the Peregrine's quarry is sought 

 for at some distance from its nest. It is a pretty sight to look down from 

 the top upon the silver Herring-Gulls, their nests on almost every ledge, 

 some with tlir birds sitting upon them, others uncovered and revealing the 

 eggs in their speckled beauty, while Jackdaws are flying incessantly into 

 the crevices where their nestlings are secreted, and every now and then 

 fussy little parties of (Guillemots descend from the lower ledges of the clifl's 

 towards the Wiiter, along the surface of which they skim for a little distance, 

 and then alight to pursue their fishing in its green depths. Soaring above 

 the edge of the cliff will be, probably, a pair of Kestrels, and suddenly a 



* IJailny Point, tlip oa^twanl hoiuKliiry ni l!;ii-iist;i]i!i' liay, and Wciiil)iiry C'lil!', iiriir 

 Plyinuiilli. arc two of the places wIjiti' IV-regriiii'S hreud uniiually in tlio niiiUt ul u 

 cnlony of Hcrring-Uull.s. 



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