38 



8 



set but little value on this bird. It is found in India, but does not appear to breed there ; for 

 Colonel Delme-Radcliffe writes (Ibis, 1871, p. 363) as follows: — "I think it is beyond doubt 

 that no instance of the breeding of this Falcon has occurred within the limits of British India. 

 My careful inquiries among natives of rank, as well as among professional falconers and bird- 

 catchers, during a recent sojourn of more than three years and a half in Peshawur and its 

 vicinity, lead me to believe that it does not breed even so near India as Surat, Bonair, Cabul in 

 Afghanistan, or in any of the neighbouring hill-countries." Dr. Jerdon says of it (B. of India, i. 

 p. 23), " found throughout the whole continent of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, 

 during the cold weather only. I have found it near Trinchinopoly, and at Calicut, on the 

 west coast ; and I know that many used to be captured at Ramnad, still further south. It is 

 abundant all along the east coast, less so perhaps on the west coast, and inland is found in 

 suitable localities, especially where there are lakes and large rivers, or where hilly tracts occur, 

 up to the Himalayan range." Dr. SevertzofF met with it in Turkestan, where, he says, it occurs 

 during passage, but may possibly remain to breed. It has been observed in Siberia by all the 

 Russian naturalists who have written on the ornithology of that country. Von Schrenck fre- 

 quently observed it at its nesting-place on the rocky shores of the Lower Schilka, and on the 

 Upper Amoor, as also once, in the autumn of 1856, on the Tarei-nor. Dr. G. Eadde says that 

 it is not rare in the Amoor country. On the 8th June he found an eyry at Cape Kada, above 

 Dshai, in a steep rock, and a month later, when revisiting the same place, he saw the young, 

 which were fledged. Von MiddendorfF observed it in July on the island of Aehae, near the 

 south coast of the Sea of Ochotsk ; and Steller met with it in the Kurile Islands. Mr. Swinhoe 

 states that it is a resident along the whole length of the Chinese coast ; it is also found in Japan, 

 whence Messrs. Temminck and Schlegel received it ; and it has also been obtained at Hakodadi by 

 Captain Blakiston, and between Nagasaki and Hakodadi by Mr. Whitely's collectors. Pere David 

 also states that he has once seen it in Mongolia. 



In America it is found throughout the country, from the extreme north down to the 

 Argentine Confederation. I have examined specimens obtained by Dr. Walker at Port Kennedy, 

 in 72° N. lat., which are specifically inseparable from European examples; and I have seen many 

 from various parts of British North America. Mr. Dall says that it is not common in Alaska, 

 but is found from Nulato to Fort Yukon in spring and summer. It was also obtained by Bischoff 

 at Sitka and Kadiak. It occurs all along the west coast ; and Mr. G. N. Lawrence (Mem. Bost. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist. ii. p. 300) says that Mr. Xantus observed the present species at different times in 

 the vicinity of Mazatlan. He discovered the eyry of a pair early in April 1862, in a cliff on an 

 island near Mazatlan called Venada, but found it quite inaccessible. In Mr. Salvin's collection 

 there is a specimen from Veragua. On the east coast it is met with down as far as Chili. I did 

 not meet with it when in Texas, but was assured that it sometimes occurred on the coast ; and I 

 have examined examples from Panama and Chili. Natterer obtained it at Praia de Cajatuba, 

 near Para, on the Amazon. According to Gundlach it is found in Cuba; Professor Newton 

 obtained it at St. Croix ; and Mr. Gurney informs me that he has seen it from Nevis. 



One of the most powerful and active, as well as one of the most docile of the Falcons, the 

 present bird was, during the time when falconry was in vogue, the species most commonly used 

 by the votaries of that noble sport — the female Peregrine being exclusively the Falcon, the 



