104 FALCO PEEEGEINUS. 



Habits. — This noble Falcon is perhaps too well known to need much comment on its habits. Bold, swift 

 on the wing, and keen-sighted to a degree, as well as extremely docile in confinement, the female has long been 

 celebrated for its employment in the ancient and royal pastime of Falconry ; and although this sport has declined 

 much in Europe during the last century, it is still practised to a certain extent both on the continent and in 

 England, the birds used with us being brought over principally from Holland, where they are netted. In India 

 it has always, in common with the next species, been prized by the natives for Falconry, and is still trained 

 there for that purpose ; but used to be so, according to Jerdon, much more than now. He writes, in the 

 ' Birds of India,' " It is trained to catch Egrets, Herons, Storks, Cranes, the Anastomus, Ibis papulosa, Tantalus 

 feucocephalus, &c. It has been known, though very rarely, to strike the Bustard. Native falconers do not 

 train it to hunt in couples, as is done in Europe sometimes. I may here mention that the idea of the Heron 

 ever transfixing the Hawk with its bill is scouted by all native falconers, many of whom have had much greater 

 experience than any Europeans. After the prey is brought to the ground, indeed, the Falcon is sometimes in 

 danger of a blow from the powerful bill of the Heron, unless she lays hold of its neck with one foot, which an 

 old bird always does. When the Kulung (Grus virgo) is the quarry, the Bhijri keeps well on its back to avoid 

 a blow from the sharp, curved inner claw of the Crane, which can, and sometimes does, inflict a severe wound." 



Jerdon comments on the curious mistake that artists, even Landseer included, have made in depicting the 

 Peregrine as striking with its bill ! This erroneous idea, however, is not confined to artists, for I have more 

 than once seen it in the writings of naturalists. No raptorial bird that I have ever heard of uses its bill 

 either for defence or offence ; this organ is constructed for, and only used in, tearing the food on which the 

 bird subsists. The talons alone are used in striking the quarry and in fighting or defending itself against attacks 

 from any source whatever. I have kept half a dozen species of diurnal birds of prey, and have often had 

 occasion to catch them by hand ; but have never known one to use its bill when caught further than in giving 

 a very incipient sort of peck. It is well known what a tremendous wound the Peregrine inflicts with the hind 

 claw when striking its quarry ; and in America, where it is called the " Duck-Hawk," on account of its partiality 

 for ducks, these birds have been found with the whole back ripped up by the stroke of the Hawk's sharp talon, 

 combined with the great momentum of its downward swoop. Peregrines have their favourite localities in India 

 and Ceylon, which they tenaciously keep to throughout the season ; they usually take up their quarters near 

 water, and are very partial to sea-coast cliffs, which afford them a tolerably secure refuge. The birds that 

 almost annually frequent the rocks at Trincomalie feed on the Pigeons frequenting the islets lying off the 

 coast some 12 miles to the north. I observed them flying home at usually about nine or ten o'clock, when 

 they would shelter themselves during the heat of the day, and sally out again in the afternoon. The favourite 

 food of the Peregrine in India consists of waterfowl and waders, the latter being chiefly preyed upon by those 

 birds which frequent the sea-coast. Mr. Adam writes that at the Sambhur Lake "they sit on stakes which 

 are required to form a low retaining wall to separate a portion of the lake-water for the formation of salt, and 

 from these perches they pounce on the numerous waders which feed along this wall." It is well known to what 

 an extent Coleoptera are preyed upon in the East ; and Mr. Pole assures me that the specimen he shot at 

 I'uttalam was flying round his compound at dusk, and appeared to be darting at the large beetles which were 

 swarming in the air at that hour. 



The ordinary flight of the Peregrine is regular and straight on end, being performed, as in other Falcons, 

 with a quick wing-stroke ; it is moderately swift, but nothing out of the common ; when, however, it is in pursuit 

 of a quick-flying quarry, such as a pigeon, duck, or limicoline bird, its wonderful powers of progression are fully 

 brought out, and in making its final dash on the doomed victim its speed for the moment is estimated at 

 160 miles an hour. 



Nidification. — As the Bhyri is not known to breed in India, the fact of its having been found nesting at 

 Pt. Pedro by Layard has been a matter of dispute. As mentioned above, I have identified Layard's birds, 

 and they are not the Jugger {F. jugger) , as has been suggested; and consequently the interesting fact remains 

 that the species (probably quite an abnormal occurrence in tropical latitudes) has bred in Ceylon. He writes 

 as follows : — " I found them breeding in a palmyra tope on the left-hand side of the road from Jaffna to Pt. 

 Pedro ; the nest a rough structure of sticks laid on the dead ' matties ' or fronds of the palmyra, from which 

 the leafy parts had been cut away I shot the first specimen early in the month (January) ; but the 



