32 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
flight has to be prolonged, may not have the 
lasting powers of another bird, and therefore 
would be beaten on the longer course. 
It seems likely that the fact of not considering 
one or other of these points may account for the 
difference in regard to some of the views held by 
observers of experience. For instance, may it 
not account for the fact that there is such a 
marked difference of opinion as to whether the 
peregrine is faster than the golden plover ? May 
it not be true that for a short distance the latter 
bird may be the faster flier, but that in consequence 
of its lack of staying power it is overtaken before 
it goes half a mile unless it can elude its pursuer 
by twists and turns. In this connection it is 
worth recalling the experiences of that acute 
and accurate observer Charles St. John^: "The 
golden plover," he writes, " is a favourite prey, 
and affords the hawk a severe chace before he is 
caught. I have seen a pursuit of this kind last 
for nearly ten minutes — the plover turning and 
doubling like a hare before greyhounds, at one 
moment darting like an arrow into the air, high 
above the falcon's head ; at the next sweeping 
round some bush or headland — but in vain. The 
^ Wild Sports of the Highlands, chap. x. p. 135. 
