70 
AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
ever witnessed is the last effort of a peregrine in 
chase of a wild duck when, fast as is the accelerated 
speed of a mallard, it seems almost to be standing 
still in the air when the peregrine stoops over it." 
Any one who has seen this, as I am glad to say 
I have, will assuredly echo these words. 
It is of course pure speculation whether, in the 
comparatively short flight of an eagle or falcon 
stooping in its final downward rush at its prey, its 
speed exceeds the maximum speed of the spine- 
tailed swift. Those, however, who have seen the 
last effort of the eagle or falcon in a flight of that 
unique kind will never believe, without scientific 
demonstration to the contrary, that any other 
bird in the British Isles can fly faster. 
,e^ 
