F ALcons. RAPACES. FALCO. 39 
of authors. At this period of its life, it has undergone a 
moult ; and though a marked difference still exists between 
it and the old Peregrine Falcon, the advance towards matu- 
rity is sufficiently perceptible. The intermediate links in the 
chain upwards are supplied by the F. gibbosus, the F. ru- 
ber indicus, and the F. maculatus, which last shews the 
transition to the adult F. Peregrinus *. 
In England and Wales the Peregrine Falcon is rare, and 
is only found indigenous in rocky or mountainous districts. 
The Highlands and Northern Isles of Scotland appear to be Locality. 
the situations most favourable to it, and in that part of the 
kingdom it is numerous and widely diffused.—The most in- Nest, &c. 
accessible situations are always selected for its eyry, and its 
nest is placed upon the shelf of a rock. It lays four or five 
eggs, in colour very similar to those of the Kestrel, but con- 
siderably larger. 
In daring disposition it equals most of its congeners, and 
many interesting traits in its history are related by different 
writers, amongst which, some in the Supplement to the Or- 
-nithological Dictionary will well reward the reader’s atten. 
tion +. : 
I may be allowed to add the following instance, as having Anecdote 
happened under my own observation, and as exemplifying of ths 
not only its determined perseverance in pursuit of its prey, 
when under the pressure of hunger, but as arguing also an 
unexpected degree of foresight. 
In exercising my dogs upon the moors previous to the 
commencement of the shcoting-season, I observed a large 
bird of the hawk genus hovering at a distance, which, upon 
approaching, I knew to be a Peregrine Falcon. Its atten- 
tion was now drawn towards the dogs, and it accompanied 
“ My own observations on this species have been confirmed and greatly 
assisted by an excellent paper, written by James Witson, Esq. entitled, 
* Observations on some species of the genus Falco,” and published in the 
2d volume of the Transactions of the Wernerian Society. 
+ See Montacu. Suppl., under the head Falcon Peregrine. 
