Birds. 519 



length of time the poor bird avoided the fatal stroke. For twenty mi- 

 nutes did I watch the unequal contest. The male bird, rising above 

 the lark, made his stoop, which was avoided with wonderful agility ; 

 the female falcon, which was usually below, then endeavoured to seize 

 the quarry as it swerved to escape the stroke of her mate. On this 

 occasion they actually disappeared over the sea : so that it is impos- 

 sible to say how much longer the poor lark succeeded in deferring the 

 fate that w T as inevitable. On the other occasion the lark was soon cap- 

 tured by the female. The attack was conducted as before. 



The peregrine does not acquire its full adult plumage till after its 

 third year ; at least not when in a state of confinement ; as I had op- 

 portunity of observing in the case of three birds in possession of a 

 friend. I have never succeeded in rearing any myself. I once made 

 the attempt ; but being reluctant to kill so many small birds as were 

 required for their support, they were fed on beef and mutton ; and 

 died, apparently for want of more suitable food. 



Early in the spring of 1841, I observed a pair of these noble birds 

 hovering about the landslip. It immediately struck me that they had 

 an eye to the all-important business of incubation, and were actually 

 examining into the resources of the neighbourhood. 



The face of the cliff here presents a bold section, rising some sixty 

 or seventy feet perpendicularly above the rocky ruins scattered in pic- 

 turesque confusion over the seaward slope- In the holes and crevices 

 a numerous colony of jackdaws have established themselves. There, 

 for aught I know to the contrary, they have lived and bred in happy 

 security from the time the fall of the cliff in 1819 laid bare the above 

 mentioned section, inviting them to the snug shelter thus afforded. 

 There too they have probably chattered away in full chorus, undis- 

 turbed by anymore serious enemy to themselves or their families than 

 an occasional idle gunner, who, from mere wantonness, or boyish va- 

 nity, may have been tempted by their noisy laugh to try his skill in 

 starving the nestlings by the destruction of the parents. But they 

 seemed to regard the appearance of the falcons amongst them with 

 far greater alarm than would have been occasioned by the incursion 

 of a whole battalion of marksmen. They seemed, like myself, to en- 

 tertain more than a suspicion as to the real object of these to them, 

 though not to me, unwelcome visitors ; and when the male falcon 

 perched on the summit of the cliff, as if to count heads, with a view 

 of ascertaining how many young jackdaws would in due time show 

 their noses beyond their safe retreats, a solemn silence succeeded to 

 the noisy clamour. Some sat motionless on the neighbouring trees ; 



