interest, since it affords us an insight into the natural habrts and economy of this destructive though noble
bird; at the same time it must be admitted that this trait in its chacl ee that of killing in mere wane
tonness or sport, is not commendable. Independently of Ducks, Cvots, a Moor-hens, many other birds
fall to the powerful stroke of the Peregrine’s hind claw, such as Grouse, fe Plovers, Pigeons, &c.
When used in falconry, it is flown at Herons, Crows, and other birds of eae magnitude; but as these are
usually victims selected by the falconer, any details respecting its prowess in ae cases would be somewhat
out of place in a memoir on its natural history: but I may mention that there is no bird which is more
easily tamed or rendered subservient to the desires of man, nor one ae becomes more docile ; for not only
will it, at his will, pursue the quarry until it becomes a mere Te In ue Reavene, but os that altitude
will respond to his lure and immediately descend, to be fed, and blinded by its stiff and nncoroa hood ;
the cravings of its appetite appeased, it sits content oan! accustomed block of wood, or rides with equal
patience on the hand of the falconer or its ‘faire ladye.” One

The whole structure of the Peregrine is admirably adapted for aérial progression, its powerful pectoral
muscles, unparalleled among birds of its size, together with its long and potted wings, enabling it ona
to pass through the air with a rapidity estimated by some writers at the rate of 150 miles an hour ; but this
rate of progression is as nothing compared with the impetuosity of its stoop when descending upon its
quarry. Wonderful indeed is the rapidity with which this winged thunderbolt descends from aloft on any
bird which may unwittingly pass beneath the rock or mountain escarpment upon which it has been reposing.
Such a stoop as this I once witnessed in the Highlands. A flight of Ducks, which I had driven across
the moor, caught the piercing eye of a Peregrine seated on a high rock about a mile distant. Down he
came with meteor-like swiftness, when the Ducks, as if aware that it was their only chance of safety,
doubled at once in the direction of the water they had left, both Ducks and Peregrine passing immediately
over my head with the quickness of lightning and a rushing sound not easily to be described. Such a
momentary scene as this can only be understood by those who have witnessed it; Mr. Wolf has endea-
voured to convey some idea of it in the accompanying illustration. It will be seen that a Mallard has been
struck dead, its back being ripped open by a stroke of the Peregrine’s hind claw—a mode of striking in
the air which I believe it always adopts. If perchance its aim should not be certain and effective, the
Falcon usually mounts gracefully, sulkily seats itself on some neighbouring rock or tree, and patiently
awaits another opportunity for repeating the same manceuvre. During my travels over the plains of
Australia, Falcons frequently followed me for days together, on the chance of my raising a quail or other
bird; and many fine stoops have I there witnessed.

Before leaving this part of the bird’s economy, I may mention a remarkable stoop witnessed by my friend
John Fowler, Esq., while shooting in Scotland. A small pack of Grouse being flushed, they descended to
cross one of the deep gorges between the hills of the upper Findhorn, when a Peregrine, which had been
quietly seated on a neighbouring high rock far above the birds, immediately gave chase, and almost with
the quickness of thought was down upon his bird, and bore it away in his talons in face of the spectators
above him. The consternation this sudden attack produced, not only in the pack of birds alluded to, but
among all the Grouse on the hill-side, was such, that Mr. Fowler had excellent shooting for the next hour,
whereas before the Grouse laid so badly that he could get no sport.

Few birds differ more in the size of the sexes than the Peregrine, and I have been very careful in ascertain-
ing the relative weight of each whenever an Opportunity offered ; in this respect I have been most kindly
aided by Mr. Benjamin Leadbeater, of Brewer Street, London, who has always submitted to my inspection
any freshly killed specimens that have been sent to him; and I should be wanting in courtesy were I not to
state that not only in this but in many other instances has Mr. Leadbeater been most obliging to me.
The average weight of several females was 2 lbs. oO ozs.; and the total length 19 inches, of the wing 142,
of the tail 73, of the tarsi 22, and of the middle toe and nail 23. There is no difference in the colour
and markings of the male, of sufficient importance to be noticed. The average weight is 1 lb. 7 ozs., and
the total length 16 inches.

The Peregrine breeds in April and May. The nest is usually placed upon the shelf of a rock, or near
the top of a lofty tree; it is composed of sticks, sea-weed, hair, and other materials. The eggs are two or
three in number, somewhat round in form, and of a deep russet-red, blotched and lined with a deeper hue.

The accompanying illustration represents an adult female about three-fourths of the natural size. It will
be seen that the back is of a nearly uniform deep-blue grey, while the feathers of the abdomen and flanks
are buffy white, barred with blue-grey. The young of the year is very differently marked,—all the upper
surface being slaty brown, with a rufous border to each feather; the tail dark grey, crossed by five rows of
sandy-buff spots assuming on the inner webs the form of bars; the breast and abdomen buffy white, with
a broad longitudinal stripe of dark brown down the centre of every feather ;

the axillaries, too, which are
regularly barred in the adult, are marked on each w

eb with large spots of buffy white. This plumage is
carried to the first moult, when it is exchanged for that of the adult.