THE PEREGRINE 97 



which the eagle left empty and turned inside out, like a rabbit- 

 skin hung up by the cook, the whole of the carcass, bones and 

 all, being stowed away in the bird's capacious ma'w. The 

 quantity of meat taken from the stomach of an eagle killed on 

 the mountain is sometimes perfectly incredible. I regret not 

 having taken a note of the weight of mutton I once saw taken 

 out of one I shot. 



We are occasionally visited, too, by the peregrine falcon,^ 

 who makes sad havoc in the poultry-yard when he appears 

 here. There is a nest of these birds always built in the in^ 

 accessible rocks of the Findhorn. Indeed, in the good old 

 days of hawking, when a gentleman was known by his hawk 

 and hound, and even a lady seldom went abroad without a 

 hawk on her gloved hand, the Findhorn hawks were always in 

 great request. The peregrine seems often to strike down birds 

 for his amusement ; and I have seen one knock down and kill 

 two rooks, who were unlucky enough to cross his flight, without 

 taking the trouble to look at them after they fell. In the plain 

 country near the seashore the peregrine frequently pursues the 

 pewits and other birds that frequent the coast. The golden- 

 plover, too, is a favourite prey, and affords the hawk a severe 

 chase before he is caught. I have seen a pursuit of this kind 

 last for nearly ten minutes, the plover turning and doubling 

 like a hare before greyhounds, at one moment darting like an 

 arrow into the air, high above the falcon's head ; at the next, 

 sweeping round some bush or headland — but in vain. The 

 hawk, with steady, relentless flight, without seeming to hurry 

 herself, never gives up the chase, till the poor plover, seemingly 

 quite exhausted, slackens his pace, and is caught by the hawk's 

 talons in mid-air, and carried off to a convenient hillock or 

 stone to be quietly devoured. Two years ago I brought a young 

 peregrine falcon down from near the source of the Findhorn, 



• The peregrine falcon, Moray. Does not breed in trees. F. Islandicus (German 

 falcon) seen near Loch Spynie, March 1830. — C. St. J. 



It is a common bird in many districts of West Scotland, and is generally found in 

 pairs, each pair inhabiting a circle of some six or eight miles. The ravages of keepers 

 and egg-collectors have of late years much thinned its numbers. Mr. Gray saw one 

 strike off the head of a curlew on the seashore near Girvan. It was followed by its 

 mate. A keeper on Loch Laggan told us he had often seen one swoop down on a 

 flying covey of grouse, strike the head off one bird, wheel, and catch the dead bird in its 

 talons. This he bore off while the head fell to the ground. Mr. Speedy says : " Thfe 

 falcon almost invariably strikes in the air, using his wing, with which he frequently de- 

 capitates his victim " (p. 358). 



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