BRITISH BIRDS OF FASTEST FLIGHT 33 
hawk with steady relentless flight, without seem- 
ing to hurry himself, never gives up the chace 
till the poor plover, seemingly quite exhausted, 
slackens her pace, and is cavight by the hawk's 
talons in mid-air and carried off to a convenient 
hillock or stone to be quietly devoured." 
Colonel Meinertzhagen has been so kind as to 
consider the observations I have made above, and 
writes : 
" I should doubt whether the golden plover 
has less staying power than the peregrine. The 
former migrates long distances (thousands of miles, 
in the case of the American golden plover, a bird 
almost identical with ours, which goes from 
Labrador to Brazil by sea), whereas the peregrine 
is nowhere believed to be a regular or persistent 
migrant over long distances. It is more probable 
that the peregrine is a faster bird than the golden 
plover and that the latter becomes exhausted by 
continued acceleration and fear, whereas the pere- 
grine is accustomed to long periods of accelerated 
flight and is stimulated by hunger." 
Again in reference to the difference of opinion 
as to whether the teal is faster than the mallard, 
may it not be possible that both views may be 
correct ? in other words, that it depends upon the 
