Page:The peregrine falcon at the eyrie (IA cu31924084757206).pdf/50

 30 He flies more on a level with the eyrie, and gives his warning notes to the young, who immediately hurry to seek cover, and take more notice of their father's warning than they did of their mother's. The warning notes of the Tiercel do not sound to me so quick and sharp as the "Hek, hek, hek" of the Falcon. They appear to be slightly longer, more like "Hurr, burr." A very few moments after the Tiercel left I was greeted by my friends with "Good morning! How goes it?" So he had stayed feeding in the eyrie until they had almost clambered down to it. My place was taken by Dr. Heatherley, and as soon as I had got my boots on I went across to the eyrie and found the remains of the meal consisted of one leg, part of the back and both wings of the puffin. It is curious how varied the condition of the quarry is when brought. Except for being headless, last night's puffin was almost intact, while this morning's puffin was not only beheaded, but well plucked also. The passerine birds brought were absolutely intact, while what was brought in by the Falcon for the Tiercel's own consumption consisted of fleshy parts of birds, not only plucked but absolutely skinned as well. After being relieved I went to an island about two miles away. Soon after landing there we found a mass of feathers on the shore and the head of a puffin, which was quite fresh, with the eyes clear and full as in life. Beyond a doubt the head and feathers of the puffin I had seen two hours previously brought in by the Falcon and torn up by the Tiercel, an interesting coincidence.