58 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
one another or with the speed of other birds which 
never fly in this way. In considering the question 
of the relative speed of the two birds in this parti- 
cular kind of flight, I will first deal with the matter 
on principle and then consider such evidence of 
eye-witnesses as I have been able to obtain. The 
falcon has of course one great advantage over the 
eagle as regards equipment for swift flight. He 
has the long pointed wings typical of the true 
falcon, whereas the eagle has rounded wings. As 
between birds of similar size and spread of wings, 
the bird with pointed wings is faster than the one 
with rounded wings. Thus a blackcock is un- 
doubtedly faster than a pheasant although their 
bodies are about the same size, or to be more 
accurate the blackcock is rather smaller than the 
pheasant. A striking instance of this was recently 
given in the Field ^ by Mr. G. Denholm Armour, 
who wrote : " Some years ago a friend asked me 
to come to Argyllshire late in the autumn to shoot 
some black-game which lived in the birch and fir 
woods hanging along the lower parts of the hills. 
" Our method was to place ourselves in a break 
in the line of woods at the bottom of the hill, 
sending two or three men to drive the wood 
1 March 15, 1923. 
