14 
FALCON I I'lyK. 
Shetland), tlie Falcon pnrsning it to tlie very threshold, 
sometimes even entering in its blind haste. I shall never 
forget the Babel of sounds which arose from the breakfasting 
farm-servants one fine Sunday morning, when a terrified 
]ngeon dashed into the kitchen, with a beautiful Greenland 
Falcon within a few inches of it. The robber, however, made 
his exit almost as rapidly as his entry, and the panting 
fugitive, after allowing itself to be taken up and fondled, was 
soon restored to liberty without having received any injury. 
The flight is extremely raj^id and vigorous, and, when exer- 
cised in the pursuit of prey, is if possible even more so than 
that of the Peregrine ; but it would be difficult indeed to de- 
cide which is the more graceful when endeavouring to rise 
above an active and vigilant quarry. 
The prey is usually carried off to some favourite spot pre- 
viously selected for the purpose, such as a large rock or a 
grassy knoll, from whence an extensive view in every direc- 
tion is commanded. Surrounding one such knoll, which had 
been in use for about a week, I found the remains of rabbits, 
golden plovers, snipes, dunlins, ringed plovers, snow buntings, 
a kittiwake, a water rail, rock doves, and domestic pigeons. The 
latter must have been carried fully three miles, as there was 
no dovecot within that distance, and the pigeons were not 
given to ranging. 
A friend who knows this bird well, and who was stationed 
for a considerable time at Hudson’s Bay, informed me that one 
forenoon, when there was a quantity of offal lying about, he 
shot no less than eight, without having occasion to move more 
than a few yards from the door of the tent. The narrator still 
dwells with evident feelings of pleasure upon the excellence of 
the soup thus furnished to the entire party! 
