36 



Baron von Droste Hiilshoff states that it " arrives in Borkum about September, following 

 the migrating Ducks, and leaves the island also together with them. From the above-mentioned 

 time up to the middle of November these Falcons increase here in numbers ; but after that period 

 they again get rarer, until they quite disappear. The same is again the case in the period 

 commencing from the middle of February until the end of April." 



In Belgium and Luxembourg it is not uncommon ; and Baron De Selys states that it nests in 

 the Ardennes and the woods of Campine. The north of France is visited by a tolerable number 

 on each annual migration ; and it also breeds in the mountainous districts and the sea-cliffs. It 

 inhabits Portugal, where it is said to be generally distributed. Professor Barboza du Bocage 

 writes to me as follows : — " It has been stated that in Portugal as well as in the south of Spain 

 the Peregrine is replaced by the Barbary Falcon ; but this is not the case, for all the specimens 

 I have hitherto been able to examine are referable to F. peregrinus." In Spain it is, Mr. Howard 

 Saunders states, common throughout the country, breeding in every mountain-range ; and Colonel 

 Irby writes (Orn. Str. Gibr. p. 50), it is "most abundant in Andalucia in winter; but some few 

 are resident — a pair nesting at Gibraltar, near O'Hara's Tower, and occasionally coming into 

 the town to carry off tame Pigeons. I think this pair belongs to the small race of Peregrine 

 which inhabits the coast of the Mediterranean ; but they certainly are not the Barbary Falcon. 

 The usual average-sized Peregrine, however, nests on rocks on both sides of the Straits about the 

 21st of March, laying from three to five eggs." In the mountains of Savoy it is resident, but 

 not common ; and it is generally distributed throughout Italy. In Sicily it is not rare as a 

 resident, and many pass there on migration. In Malta, Mr. C. A. Wright states (Ibis, 1864, 

 p. 47), it " appears in spring and autumn, and occasionally at other seasons. I have a female 

 which was caught in a net on the 26th December, 1860. A young male in my collection was 

 killed on the 23rd October, 1861 ; and a female was taken alive on the 1st November of the 

 same year. The Peregrine has been known to breed in precipitous rocks on the south coast of 

 Malta and Gozo. For several years a pair nested and brought up their young in an inaccessible 

 cliff near Casal-Zurrico." According to Lord Lilford it is "common in Epirus in winter, where 

 it is of great assistance to the wild-fowl shooter. Occasionally breeds in the island of Corfu, 

 where I observed it near Pelleka in April 1857. 



Dr. Kriiper speaks of it as being a rare bird in Greece, Macedonia, and Asia Minor, but a 

 resident; for it has been obtained in the winter, and is known to breed there. There are, he 

 adds, only three breeding-places in Greece — two on Parnassus, and one on the Parnes mountains 

 of Attica. In Southern Germany it occurs here and there, and breeds in suitable localities, but 

 is by no means common. Dr. Fritsch states that it breeds in Bohemia. I was informed by the 

 late Mr. E. Seidensacher that at least one pair had their nest in the mountains not far from Cilli, 

 in Styria ; and the Bitter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen writes to me that it is met with throughout 

 Austria, but everywhere rather rare than otherwise. It likewise occurs in the countries bor- 

 dering the Southern Danube, Turkey, and in Southern Russia, in which latter country it is, 

 Professor von Nordmann states, common in the winter, though but rarely seen in the summer 

 season. Eversmann, who speaks of having heard of a very dark race of the Peregrine in Southern 

 Russia, states that it is found only in the hilly districts and not in the steppes. As above stated, 

 it is a rare bird in Asia Minor ; and Canon Tristram, referring to its occurrence in Palestine, 



