2 1 6 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Aug. 



omens which preceded Duncan's murder, he makes an old 



man say — 



" On Tuesday last 

 A falcon towering in her pride of place 

 Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed." 



I have used the name Peregrine as applying to either gender, 

 but as a matter of fact in falconry it was only used of the 

 female, which is considerably larger than the male, and con- 

 sequently flown at bigger quarry. The male, which was a 

 third smaller, was called the Tiercel, Tercel, or Tassel. So 

 when Juliet would call her Romeo back, she says (" Romeo 

 and Juliet," ii. 2) — 



" O, for a falconer's voice, 

 To lure this tassel-gentle back again ! " 



where Stevens and others take " gentle " as applying to the 

 ease with which the male falcon is tamed, but this seems to 

 me to miss the point of comparing the princely Romeo to a 

 Falco Gentile. 



The Haggard next claims attention, for Tuberville, White, 

 and others speak of the Peregrine and Haggard as identical, 

 which might find support in Spenser (" Faerie Queene," i, 

 xi. 19)— 



" As hagard hawk, presuming to contend 

 With hardy fowl above his noble might. 

 His wearie pounces all in vain doth spend 

 To truss the prey too heavy for his flight, 

 Which coming down to ground, doth free itself in fight." 



But it will be seen above that Walton did not regard the 

 terms as interchangeable, and Littre's definition, Faucon 

 hagard, " faucon qui a ete pris apres plus d'une mue, et qui 

 ne s'apprivoise pas facilement " (a falcon taken after more 

 than one mewing, and that is not easily tamed), is distinctly 

 borne out by the use which Shakspear makes of the word. 

 To him it is the Hag-ard, the Hedgehawk, the wild bird ; so 

 in speaking of Beatrice (" Much Ado About Nothing," iii. i), 

 " I know her spirits are as coy and wild as haggards of the 

 rocks." And this is further brought out in the " Taming of 

 the Shrew" (iv. i), where Petruchio speaks of Kate, whom 

 he has determined to tame by the most approved methods of 



