62 
Buffon observes, that " the Falcon is per- 
haps that bird whose courage, compared 
with its strength, is the most open and the 
most conspicuous. It darts directly down- 
wards, without deviating from the perpendi- 
cular ; while the Vulture, and most of the 
other birds of rapine, surprize their prey by 
an oblique descent." " It frequently attacks 
the kite, either to amuse its courage, or to 
seize its prey ; but this is rather a contemp- 
tuous insult than an obstinate combat. It 
treats its enemy as a coward, pursues it, 
strikes it with disdain, and as it meets with 
but a feeble resistance, it allows the kite to 
escape with its life, being as much disgusted 
perhaps with the rankness of its carcase, as 
conciliated by the meanness of its conduct." 
The flight of a strong Falcon (says Dr. 
Shaw) is wonderfully swift. " It is record- 
ed, that a Falcon belonging to a Duke of 
Cleves flew out of Westphalia into Prussia 
in one day." 
Montagu is of opinion, that the rapidity 
with which a hawk, and many other birds, 
occasionally fly, is probably not less than at 
the rate of one hundred and fifty miles an 
hour, when either pursued or pursuing, and 
