BIRDS OF PREY AND OWLS 
83 
mainly, if not entirely, of insects. The members of 
the Falcon Tribe may be distinguished from the 
majority of the larger hawks by the fact that the 
eyes are dark hazel-brown instead of yellow, and 
that the bare, yellow, waxy-looking band of skin at 
the base of the beak, so characteristic of the Birds 
of Prey, is not sharply defined, but scantily clothed 
with fine bristles, passing insensibly into the feathers 
of the crown of the head. 
Some of the best-known members of this section 
of the group are the Peregrine and Jer-falcons, 
and the Kestrel, Hobby, and Merlin. Only the 
peregrine and the kestrel, however, can now be called 
common. 
The Peregrine is the falcon held so much in 
esteem by falconers, by whom the female only was 
called the “falcon,” the male, which is smaller, being 
known as a “tiercel.” The female was used for the 
capture of the larger game, such as herons and rooks ; 
whilst the male was flown only at partridges, and 
sometimes magpies. 
In a wild state the peregrine falcon is regarded 
by other birds with the greatest fear and terror. 
Ducks feeding on the banks of streams or lakes, on 
perceiving it, immediately take to the water ; whilst 
plovers and lapwings rise to an immense height in 
the air, and 
remain 
there for 
hours. Mr. 
U s s h e r, 
Photo hy P. Dando^ F.Z.S.\ \_Regent' s Par 
ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD 
Frequent in the British Islands 
Photo by P, Dando^ FtZ,S, 
MARTIAL HAWK-EAGLE 
The Hawk-eagles show a marked preference for 
woody districts 
who has had many opportunities of studying this bird 
in Ireland, where it is quite common, relates an in- 
stance of the tenacity with which it follows its prey, 
in this case a lapwing. “The falcon,” he says, “after 
several stoops, cleverly avoided by the lapwing, was 
so near clutching, that the poor bird, quite worn out, 
dropped into the water, and the falcon, after rising 
from her stoop, poised a moment on her wings, and 
then quietly lowering herself with extended legs, lifted 
the lapwing from the water and bore her ofif.” 
The eyrie is generally found half-way up some 
precipitous clifif: no nest is made, but the eggs are 
laid on the earth or gravel covering the selected ledge. 
When eggs are found in a nest, the latter has always 
been taken from some other bird, even the eagle being 
occasionally dispossessed. Three or four eggs are laid, 
which are very beautiful and variable in their colora- 
tion. The young are attended by their parents long 
after they are able to fly. 
The Jer-falcons are birds of large size and great 
