32 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



PEREGRINE FALCON'S NEST IN SUSSEX. 



By R. J. ATTYE. 



About the middle of April, 1883, I was staying in the West of Sussex. 

 Knowing that Peregrine Falcons breed along the coast, between Beachy 

 Head and Newhaven, I determined to try and find a nest. I went by train 

 to Brighton, and from thence to Newhaven with two friends. Wishing to 

 go over the cliffs I enquired for some fishermen, and was fortunate enough 

 to find three who were in the habit of dangling. 



We set out about the middle of the day, one of the fishermen walking 

 along the shore to observe and signal to us. The two fishermen brought 

 with them a bar and a rope for a guy rope, while my friends and I took turns 

 in carrying the Alpine rope, which we always use on such occasions. After 

 walking some distance we came to a small colony of Herring Gulls, not far 

 from which the sailors had on the preceding year taken some young Falcons. 

 I went down two or three times and got a few Herring Gull's eggs. A 

 little way further on we saw a Peregrine fly out of the cliffs, about a hundred 

 feet below us, and the fisherman below shouted up to us. The ropes were 

 fixed and I again descended. The cliff overhung somewhat, but about eighty 

 or ninety feet down I came to a ledge. There were no signs of a nest, but a 

 few yards to the right lay a Herring Gull's egg on the bare chalk. Crawling 

 to the egg I saw a small recess scarcely a yard beyond it. This was a little 

 semicircular hollow in the face of the cliff, with a slight depression at the 

 base. In it were four Peregrine's eggs laid on the bare chalk. My conscience 

 smote me for a moment as I took the eggs, but I remembered if I were to 

 leave them, the fishermen would most assuredly take the young Falcons. 

 There are, I believe, at least three Peregrine's nests every year along this 

 piece of coast. 



The four eggs I obtained were of the usual red type, but I subsequently saw 

 some in Brighton, which had been taken a year or two before in the vicinity 

 of Newhaven, the ground colour of which was much whiter, and the markings 

 more blotchy and streaky, as in a Sparrow Hawk's egg. 



Several pairs of Ravens build along this coast, and four or five together 

 may sometimes be seen on the edge of a cliff between Beachy Head and Bell 

 Tout lighthouse. 



The great danger of descending these chalk cliffs, is from the rotten nature 

 of the edge of the cliff, and the loose flints, for which a good look out must be 

 kept, and a helmet worn. 



Stmtjord-on-Avon. 



