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PEREGvUNE FALCON. 
The nest of the Peregrine is generally placed 
on the face of some precipitous cliff, resting on a 
shelve of the rock, on a tuft of vegetation, or in a 
horizontal cleft. It is generally inaccessible to 
climbing without some assistance, though, in a few 
instances, I have seen the shepherds take the eggs 
or young without aid. The nest is composed of 
a considerable bulk of sticks, coarse stems of 
grasses or fern carried by the birds ; but in one 
eyrie, which I have known for many years, placed 
in a horizontal cleft, the eggs are laid on the bare 
surface among the refuse of the roots of vegeta- 
tion, a little scooping or working with the breast 
rendering the spot slightly hollow. The female, 
when sitting, is easily approached, though warning 
is always given by the male of any stranger’s 
approach. At this time he appears high in the air, 
flying rapidly round, and uttering his piercing 
and shrill call of alarm. If the young are hatched, 
the scene is different : both parents generally meet 
the aggressor, and plainly tell that their boundaries 
have been invaded. When the site of the nest is 
approached, both fly rapidly across the face of 
the cliff, passing and repassing the nest, eyeing 
at one time the stranger, at another, the objects 
of their care, and uttering meanwhile cries, 
chase to another Rail that was sprung, and still retaining 
its first victim, secured the second with its other foot, 
and bore both off together. 
