A FEATHERED ACE.
Of all predatory birds in these islands, the peregrine is second to none, not even the golden eagle. The latter may be king of the air as far as size and weight go, but for clean-cut elegance of body, plus speed and poetry of motion, commend me to the long-winged Falco peregrinus. The peregrine is not a large bird, the male or tiercel measuring roughly some fifteen or sixteen inches in length, while the female or falcon is about a third longer. Peregrines are migratory birds, coming to this country in spring to breed. Occasionally, however, they are seen in winter. When here they inhabit the cliffs round the coast of the mainland as well as the islands, and they also resort to crags and precipices in inland districts. No bird that flies in this country can hope to outpace a peregrine, once the latter is deter- mined to overhaul it. Handsome as he is, the peregrine is the most destructive hawk we have, and thus he is not loved' by game preservers and their keepers. He varies his diet according to the locality in which he takes up his abode. On the coast his victims consist chiefly of puffins and other sea birds, as well as homing pigeons. Inland he chiefly kills grouse, as well as wild duck, plovers, snipe and, as on the coast, homing pigeons. Recently there has been a heated correspondence in the Press about peregrines, one party agitating for the pro- tection of the birds as they are approaching extinction, while the other side maintain that the hawks are as plentiful as ever they were, and that they should be kept in check on account of the enormous amount of damage they do to both game and homing pigeons. To one who has lived for years in districts where peregrines breed annually, this correspondence has afforded much amusement. I have no hesitation whatsoever in advo- cating a reduction of the peregrine stock wherever and whenever possible, because I have time and again seen the destruction wrought by the hawks, more particularly in the neighbourhood of grouse moors. Both in the North and South of Scotland peregrines are still plentiful, and as far as my experience goes the same thing applies in England. One correspondent stated that "the majority of English keepers have never seen a peregrine,": but I am willing to bet a trifle that there are few, if any, moorland keepers south of the Border that have not seen one in a wild state. During a period of over thirty years I have personally known peregrines to breed in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and during the last few years they have increased there to my certain knowledge. Over the Border in Westmorland and Cumberland peregrines breed every year, and I am writing these lines within a comparatively short distance of a crag in which I have known an eyrie for the last fourteen years. Not only that, but I have on several occasions seen a peregrine from my house as it was crossing high above the valley. Nobody can possibly deny the destructiveness of the peregrine, and one cannot blame either pigeon fliers or moor owners for wishing to see the ranks of these hawks reduced. On a small moor a pair of peregrines can quickly make their presence felt, for they arrive in this country soon after the New Year, and thus start killing grouse which are paired and so put a sudden end to the prospect of future coveys.
I am sure it is nobody's wish, sportsman or otherwise, to see any of our wild birds or beasts absolutely exter- minated, and in the case of the peregrine extermination is impossible, because in many places the falcons breed on one thousand foot high cliffs where they are out of reach of the gun, and in addition they are migratory and an influx of them arrives from abroad every spring.
As showing what amount of stuff peregrines will kill, not long ago 1,800 pigeon legs were found at an eyrie at Great Orme, Llandudno, half of which carried bands ; therefore in all probability the whole of the birds were homing pigeons. In these days there are a lot of people styling themselves naturalists who air their views in the Press, and who give themselves away by their ignorance. As an example, one of the correspondents aforementioned stated that "If the truth were known, the rabbits and woodpigcons killed by peregrines must be of real value to agriculture." It is quite safe to say that this gentleman has never visited a. peregrine's eyrie when the young are hatched, otherwise he would not have made such a foolish remark. I have never yet found a rabbit or the remains of one at a peregrine's eyrie, nor in my own district have I found the remains of wood- pigeons. I have never seen a peregrine take a rabbit, nor have I come across anyone else who has witnessed such a thing, or seen remains of rabbits at a peregrine's eyrie. In a high crag overlooking the head of a lonely dale a pair of peregrines has lived annually, and I have often visited the spot. The remains found were always those of grouse and homing pigeons. Homers flying north and south go via the valleys, including the one in which the eyrie is situated. I imagine very few of such birds escape the peregrines if the number of banded legs at the hawks' "plucking place" is anything to go by. With grouse valued at something like £1 per brace, a pair of peregrines can do enormous damage to a moor ; therefore the proprietor of the ground cannot afford to put up with the hawks, more especially if he expects to let his shooting and obtain a good rent for it. Many of the so-called naturalists previously alluded to know little or nothing about the peregrine, nor do they own or rent grouse moors, otherwise they would not be so free with their ideas concerning the preservation of a bird that is a determined killer, and which is as ,plentiful to-day as ever it was.
Turning from the economic side of the question, apart from the damage he does the peregrine is an intensely interesting bird to watch. I can truthfully say that I have spent many an enjoyable hour in the vicinity of a peregrine's eyrie, and at other times the bird has often afforded me short exhibitions of his wonderful agility and grace in the air. If I was sure of seeing a wild peregrine stoop at grouse or black game, I would go a very long way to witness the exhibition. The downward rush of a peregrine is one of the grandest sights of Nature, for the bird descends with a shrieking hiss, cutting the air like a red-hot bolt. Although still plentiful, peregrines may live in a district without being much seen except in the vicinity of the eyrie at breeding time. For this reason one only witnesses a stoop at comparatively long intervals. I have been fairly lucky in this respect, however, during my rambles on the hills, and I have vivid memories of seeing grouse, black game and pigeons struck by the peregrine. The latter, like other predaceous creatures, sometimes kills for sheer devilment, and I once saw a peregrine make a grand stoop at a tame pigeon, one of a number which had taken to nesting in an old disused quarry on a hillside. The pigeon was very conspicuous, being nearly white, and when I was high on the slope above the quarry it passed me on its way up the dale. Suddenly there was a loud hiss, and the luckless pigeon seemed to dissolve into a cloud of flying feathers. I could hear the " clap " of the impact, for it was the work of a peregrine which had suddenly materialized in the most unexpected manner. Over and over went the pigeon, to fall far below, and the hawk went on as if nothing had happened.
The peregrine makes no nest but lays its eggs on a bare ledge, or scrapes a hollow in the debris to accom- modate them. It invariably chooses a very inaccessible spot in a crag face or a cliff, and I have never yet found a peregrine's eyrie that was easy to get at. The buzzard, on the other hand, nests in quite simple places, and I once found its eggs laid on the bare ground. If you arrive in the vicinity of a peregrine's eyrie, one or both birds will often get very excited and fly round uttering a sharp " Kek ! kek ! kek ! " Sometimes they will stoop at an intruder, pulling up with outspread wings after their lightning-like nose dive. II.CLAPHAM.
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