HAWKING-BIRDS. 
hundred miles from the Andaman Islands ; and, from observing 
the bird’s tendency to fly towards the east abont the time of 
sunrise, for some time after it was caught, I am led to suppose 
that it must have been blown off, or followed its prey until out 
of sight of those islands. * * * When approaching the 
coast of England, it was very remarkable that the bird again 
struggled to get away in the direction of the land, although 
we were so far off as not to see it from the ship.” 
The perseverance with which the peregrine falcon will hunt 
its prey is very remarkable, and accounts for the ready manner 
it takes jfco hawking when tame. Thompson, in his “ Birds of 
Ireland,” give an interesting instance of this. He says : — 
“ The finest chase by the peregrine falcon of which I have 
heard was communicated to me by Bichard Langtry, Esq., on 
his return from Inverness-shire, after the shooting season of 
1838. On the first day, in the beginning of August, that 
he went out from Alexander towards Loch Euthan, he 
observed an eyrie of these birds in the mountain cliffs, on its 
western side. Among those which darkly beetle above Loch 
Coor, on the opposite side, a pair formerly nestled. The old 
pair were seen that day. One of them struck a heron, and 
also a grey* crow that came near, though without pursuing, or 
caring to pursue, either to the death. Yery different were 
curlews treated one day at the end of August, to seize which 
every attempt was made. My friend and his companions were 
fishing on Loch Euthan, when a flock of nine of these birds 
(curlews) appeared. Immediately afterwards a tercel came in 
sight, bearing down upon them so suddenly as to be barely 
seen until he had singled out and swept one of them from a 
height of about fifty yards into the lake. Here he pounced at 
it, but without striking, though it did not go beneath the 
surface of the water. On the tercel’s flying a little way off, to 
take one of his bold circles, when the quarry is put down, or 
4 at bay,’ the curlew rose to follow the flock, and had got 
away about a hundred yards when the tercel again bore down 
upon it. Eefuge was a second time taken upon the lake. 
This was repeated not less than ten times. The speed of the 
tercel’s flight was considered to be twice that of the curlew’s, 
as, when circling about two hundred yards off, he never gave 
his descried victim leave to get more than about half that 
distance ahead, until he had it down again. The curlew, 
though apparently more fatigued and worn out every time it 
was put down, — the last time hardly able to rise from the 
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