THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 143 
gauntlet of the two birds who between them generally secured it. Sometimes a 
wounded Cock was pounced upon and carried off right in front of the shooters, 
to whose guns the Peregrines were sacred. The writer once watched a Peregrine 
pursuing and stooping at a Pigeon near a farm-house upon the coast; when it 
missed its stoop it was joined by its mate, and then the two Falcons together 
attempted the capture, but the Pigeon saved itself by taking refuge in a hole in 
the cliff, and its enemies, with a loud cry of anger and disappointment, swept out 
over the sea. Often on the shore the Peregrine may be seen darting down upon 
a flock of Wigeon, and striking one of them with its deadly hind talon bear it 
off to a sand-bank to be devoured. Sometimes lesser game will content it, and it 
will harry the flocks of Ring-Plover and Dunlin upon the oozes. But there is 
nothing the Peregrine will not fly at; it will drive off the Eagle passing its 
eyrie; the writer once saw a trained Tiercel * when flown on the North Devon 
coast make a dash at a Great Northern Diver that was passing, and Lord Lilford, 
in Albania, saw a Peregrine fly at and “hustle” an Eagle Owl. The Peregrine 
preys largely upon cliff birds, the comical little Puffin provides a favourite meal, 
so do the noisy Jackdaws or the Rock Doves; sweeping with powerful flight over 
the moors it strikes down Grouse and Partridges or, varying its diet, the blue 
hare and the rabbit. 
The nest of the Peregrine is generally placed upon a ledge of the cliffs looking 
down upon the sea, often beneath an overhanging crag; sometimes it is on a rock 
inland, sometimes an old nest of the Raven or Carrion Crow is occupied; some- 
times high buildings are chosen for the site—Salisbury Cathedral has for many 
years provided an eyrie on its spire which is still tenanted, and the Peregrines 
are carefully protected by the Dean. On the Continent the nest is frequently 
found in a tree. The Peregrine loves company; few of the large breeding stations 
of cliff-birds are without this dangerous neighbour, to whose presence in their 
midst they are quite indifferent. No nest is made; some cavity of the rock sufiices, 
where a little loose clayey earth has been deposited. Here the eggs are laid about 
the first week in April, both male and female incubating them in turn; the male 
has been known to hatch and rear the young after the female has been killed. 
They are devoted parents, nor will they, if fired at, desert their young. Mr. 
Tracy, of Pembroke, has given, in the Zoologist, a good description of the nests 
of the Peregrine on the Pembrokeshire coast :—‘‘In almost every instance where 
I observed a nest the following birds have had nests in the immediate vicinity, 
that is within 100 or 150 yards: the Guillemot and Razorbill, in immense 
* The Tiercel is the male bird; the female is the Falcon; the young birds are Eyases, in the language 
of falconry. 
