FALCONRY. 



317 



even if the eggs were on the offender's own land. The use of the gyrfalcon was 

 restricted to king or queen; an earl might own and fly the peregrine; a yeoman the 

 goshawk ; a priest was allowed the sparrow-hawk, while a servant might get what 

 amusement he could from the kestrel. 



During the sixteenth or seventeenth century falconry reached the zenith of its 

 popularity in Europe, and before the beginning of the present century it had fallen 

 into pretty general disuse. It is still kept up, however, on many a large estate in 

 England and on the Continent, and in many cities of India and China at the present 

 time, one frequently meets in the streets men carrying hawks on their wrists as their 

 ancestors did a thousand years ago. In fact there are very few countries of the Old 

 World where it is not still more or less in vogue, as well as in some parts of South 

 America, though we are not aware that it has been practised in the United States. 



The terminology of falconry is quite voluminous, hundreds of terms being used 

 which are peculiar to the art, while many familiar words are used only in a peculiar 

 or limited sense, so that a work on the subject would be hardly intelligible to the 

 average reader without a glossary. We need not here trouble ourselves about many 

 of these terms, introducing as few as possible, and explaining those which seem to 

 need it. 



There is little doubt, considering the high grade of intelligence of most birds of 

 prey, that any of the forms which commonly catch living birds or quadrupeds might, 

 with proper care and training, be made serviceable for hawking; but those which the 

 experience of ages seems to have shown conclusively to be the best are the true 

 Falconinse (especially the members of the genus Falco) and the Accipitrina3. These 

 are very different in their structure and action, as already pointed out, and are there- 

 fore most often used on different classes of game. By the term game we must here 

 be understood to mean the quarry, whatever it may be, whether eatable or not; for, 

 as the main thing sought for in this pastime is sport, it is often better and more con- 

 veniently obtained from large and high-flying birds like herons, than from such birds 

 as quails and partridges, which are more easily procured for the table in other 

 ways. 



In all ages and countries falconers have recognized these two classes of ' hawks ; ' 

 the long-winged, dark-eyed falcons, which rise to a considerable height and ' stoop ' on 

 their prey at a single rush, being usually called ' noble,' while the short-winged, often 

 yellow-eyed hawks, which fly low and chase after their prey, were styled ' ignoble.' 

 The first, or 'noble' falcons, were most often taught to rise high above the hunter, and 

 'wait on ' until game was found, while the second were oftener thrown from the hand 

 on sighting game, and, unlike the falcons, were not often 'hooded.' The really good 

 birds most readily obtained and easily managed were, in Europe, the goshawk and 

 the peregrine, and these are the ones most often used now in England. The 'great 

 northern ' falcons, the various gyrfalcons, were more powerful, and could be used for 

 some birds which the peregrine was no match for, but they were scarce and hard to 

 obtain in the first place, did not thrive except in a cold climate, and were extremely 

 difficult to tame and train. The different species of falcon vary much in their dispo- 

 sitions, and there are many other things to be taken into account in selecting a bird 

 for service. The course of training- is at best long and difficult, and while a week or 



^j ^3 



two may suffice in some cases for young birds reared from the nest, others will require 

 several months. 



At the present time it is believed that as good results in the field may be obtained, 



