BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University officials are celebrating the return, over the weekend, of a stuffed peregrine falcon that disappeared from a locked glass display case in the Life Sciences building for several days.

The valuable piece of taxidermy was returned unharmed sometime Saturday morning, said BGSU spokesman Dave Kielmeyer. It was left in a hallway in the Life Sciences building and a faculty member found it.

"We're pleased that our Falcon has been returned undamaged and is back where it belongs. As promised, we will not be investigating the incident further or pursuing charges," said Mr. Kielmeyer.

University officials dubbed the disappearance the case of the "pilfered peregrine” when the bird mysteriously flew the coop between Nov. 8 and Nov. 13. It may be a part of the original collection of Edwin L. Moseley, a naturalist who was the first professor of science at what was then Bowling Green Normal College, now BGSU, said Mr. Kielmeyer.

The stuffed falcon is part of the university’s Ornithology Collection of more than 2,400 birds. About 1,100 specimens are on display on the third and fourth floors of the Life Sciences Building on the north side of campus.

First Published November 18, 2013, 9:36 p.m.