# The Peregrine Falcon at the Eyrie/Famine in the Eyrie

Chapter IV.
Famine in the Eyrie.
I AM uncertain whether the famine incident described in the present chapter was due to the Falcon's resentment of the constant presence of spying strangers at the eyrie, and that she voluntarily absented herself for a time in disgust, or that, having been shot, the Tiercel managed to secure the services of another Falcon as a lady-help. The behaviour of the Falcon, as described in Chapter V.,is no guide, because, as previously explained, for purposes of continuity, although chronologically correct as regards the age of the young, most of the incidents described really occurred in 1910, when the tent was twenty-five feet away, and the birds were therefore not subjected to quite so much intrusive inspection.
F. Heatherley's watch, from 12.30 p.m.. May 24th, to 3.30 p.m.. May 25th.—On relieving Booth I found the youngsters with full crops, except the smaller male. As in 1910, one male is distinctly smaller than the other. One female had her crop so distended that she showed purplish skin bare of down, so that it looked like a goitre. The young soon settled off to sleep, flat on their bellies, with both legs stretched out behind them. Only a young male chose the nest depression, the rest lying with their bodies in the sun and their heads in the shade, either of the mallow leaves or rocks. About 1.30 they woke up and a male and female started preening themselves. At 1.40 p.m, they were fed on a passerine bird, brought in his beak by the Tiercel, who alighting on B transferred the bird to his left talons. At 3.45 there was another feed by the Tiercel. The two young females kept in the background during most of this meal, whimpering in a half-hearted way as if they would eat "an they had room." After this meal he jumped on to C and watched the shed narrowly for eight minutes. He stood there with wings slightly open and every feather smooth, ​evidently ready for instant flight. As he seemed watching for evidence of life in the shed, I did not venture to train the camera on to him. He has been very nervous all the time, as if Booth had been getting on his nerves. At 4.18 p.m. he brought a partly
The Tiercel with Thrush on B.
Light 8, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F8, Exposure 1-25 Sec.
The Tiercel Resting on C.
Light 4, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F16, Exposure 1-25sec.
plucked thrush; all these last three passerines have been partly plucked. After this he twice brooded the young for a short time. After the food cry in the distance he came, at 7.7 p.m., with a thrush. All the young were hungry, and they finished it in eight ​minutes. The young huddled together after this as if for warmth. The down is nearly fully developed now, and they keep their eyes open more. The earholes are still prominent, and when moving in the eyrie they hobble about on their tarsi, not on their talons. There has been no brooding worth mentioning to-day, and he cannot cover them when he tries. About 9 p.m., while changing plates, I heard the Tiercel flop down, and when I looked out, at 9.10, he was standing on B, from which he moved into the eyrie later on. The last I saw of him-he was standing close to the young, with his feathers ruffled out.
Saturday. May 25th—When I awoke and looked out at 4.20 he was standing on C. The first feed was at 4.40 a.m., an unplucked thrush; this lasted them, ten minutes. Afterwards the Tiercel preened on C for a few minutes, and then, as the young whimpered, he got down and tried to brood them. As he sits 'he covers about a third of the family circle. One young female whimpered so persistently that at last he got up and brooded her by herself. The second meal, at 5.45 a.m., off a mangled thrush, lasted thirteen minutes. During this meal he pulled off and offered a female all the primaries of one wing, but she dropped them. Then he gave them all a mouthful of breast feathers in turn. About 8 a.m, he was calling for food for quite ten minutes. At 9.20 he alighted on B with a puffin in his beak. He put it under his talons and looked round. Then he picked it up in his beak again and jumped down into the eyrie. About midday one male and female were very lively, raising themselves and, bobbing their heads forward, peering and scowling like adults. The sixth feed was a puffin, at 3.20 p.m:, in the middle of which the Falcon started the alarm, and the Tiercel immediately began to feed desperately against time, as Booth describes. He shot out of the eyrie- only a few seconds before the relief party appeared.
The Tiercel Asleep.
Llght 30, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F16, Exposure ½sec.
THE TIERCEL BROODING.
THE TIERCEL BROODING.
During G. A. Booth's watch, from May 26th to May 27th, he noticed one youngster making a meal by himself off a piece of skin he kept under his talons, and on another occasion a youngster got hold of a mallow leaf and tore it up. He also saw a youngster eject a casting.
The Falcon On Guard
Light 3, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F11, Exposure 1-30sec.
F. Heatherley's watch, from 1 p.m. Maynb27th, to 3.30 p.m.. May 28th.—The day being very hot, the youngsters shifted about all the afternoon with the turning sun, to find shade for their heads as they slept. At 4 p.m, the Tiercel pitched on A with a puffin. He screamed the alarm as he flew down, and not a youngster stirred. He stood there silent for five minutes to assure himself that all was well, and then dropped into the eyrie. The young immediately clamoured round him; they seemed very hungry. At 6.10 p.m, the Tiercel pitched silently on B with a gory lump of flesh that might have been half a pound of butcher's meat under his talons, there being nothing else left of the bird. Then he picked it up and, jerking his head forward, peered in all directions with it swinging from his beak, before he dropped into the eyrie. The young are for the first time showing some of the quilled primaries, so they are in the same stage as the young were in 1910, when we first found them. At 8.47 p.m, the Tiercel came silently with what looked like a plucked puffin. The feed lasted twelve minutes; the young were ravenous, and at the finish were quite gory about their beaks. To-day has been very hot, and the heated roof, close to my head, has been very trying. At 9.15 the Tiercel came down on to A and took up his position halfway along it for the night. Twice when I happened to wake in the night and looked out he was standing there in the moonlight.
THE TIERCEL FEEDING YOUNG EIGHT DAYS OLD. Light 3, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F11, Exposure 1-100sec.
Ten Days Old and Ready to Fight.
The Young Ten Days Old.
Light 5, Plate Speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F8, Exposure 1-50sec.
Staring Helplessly at His Starving Young.
Light 3, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F11, Exposure 1-40sec.
Riley Fortune's watch, from May 28th to May 29th, records grim famine. He saw no food brought during the whole of that time. The Tiercel paid frequent visits, and tried to find scraps in the eyrie with which to feed the young, and during his absence the young hunted hungrily in the eyrie themselves.
TIERCEL FEEDING WITH FEATHERS; THIRD EYELID PASSING OVER TIERCEL'S EYE; YOUNG TWELVE DAYS OLD. Light 3, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Diaphragm F8, Exposure 1-100sec.
This long disappearance of the Falcon gave rise to a good deal of discussion. We could not, of course, tell whether the Falcon that turned up after the interval was the original or another pressed into the service. I am rather inclined to the view that it was a fresh bird, owing to the bold way in which she came into the eyrie, and that the tussle for the thrush showed she required breaking in to her new duties. When Fortune came home and described the young as starving, it was resolved to give them some scraps to go on with until such time as the Tiercel, driven by hunger, hunted for himself, and then probably resume feeding the young. So I took up a freshly-killed puffin and a nestling shag; but when King said that feeding had been resumed, rather than throw them away I placed them conspicuously on the topmost rock of the island.
C. R. Brown next occupied the shed for three hours, during which he recorded three meals off small birds. I relieved him at 4.30 p.m.
The Tiercel Feeding Young Twelve Day Old.
Light 3, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F8, Exposure 1-100sec.
THE TIERCEL SHELTERING YOUNG FOURTEEN DAYS OLD FROM RAIN.
The Lords of Appeal Eighteen Days Old.
Light 8. Plate speed 250. Subject number 100. Stop F8. Exposure 1-25sec.
YAPPING TO MAKE THEM HURRY. YOUNG FOURTEEN DAYS OLD.
A Young Male in Fourth Week.
Light 8, Plate speed 250, Subject number 100, Stop F11, Exposure 1-100sec.