'30 



THE MUSEUM. 



Records show also clearly that Fal- 

 conry existed in Europe between the 

 years three hundred and eighty-four B. 

 C. and 40 A. D. supplied by the writ- 

 ings of Pliny, Aristotle and Martial. 



The sport was probably introduced 

 into England from the Continent about 

 360 A. D., and was followed from that 

 time down to the seventeenth century 

 with an ardor that probably no other 

 sport called forth. 



In the reigns of William the Con- 

 queror, Edward the Third, Henry the 

 Eight and Elizabeth stringent laws and 

 enactments were passed from time to 

 time in the interest of Falconry. Fal- 

 cons and hawks were alloted to degrees 

 and orders of men according to rank 

 and station, for instance to royalty the 

 Jer falcons, to an Earl the Perigrine 

 (our friend present). 



About the middle of the seventeenth 

 century the sport declined in England, 

 but again revived somewhat, but no 

 doubt the improvements in the art of 

 gun making, etc., has done away to a 

 great e.xtent with falconry there, but 

 in Mongolia, Chinese Tartary and Cen- 

 tral Asia the sport still flourishes. 



Properly trained falcons commanded 

 a very high price in olden times, owing 

 to the training of the birds, requiring 

 great skill, patience and judgment by 

 those engaged in the work. 



We must, without doubt, hold our 

 friend Faico percgriiius in great respect 

 owing to his ancestors being held in 

 such high esteem by kings and queens 

 and nobles of high degree. 



The next to engage your attention 

 will be the Double Crested Cormorant 

 {^Phalacrocarax Dilophus) . 



The specimen now shown is a young 

 female and was shot by Mr. Hume at 

 Ashbridges Bay in October last. • 



Although the Cormorant is a sea 

 shore bird they occasionally visit our 

 inland lakes and of course take in our 

 city. 



The young of this species, strange 

 to say, are hatched blind and are cov- 

 ered with an inky black skin. While 

 in the squab condition they are highly 

 esteemed for food by the Laplanders, 

 thus showing that there is "no account- 

 ing for taste." Torontonians would 

 certainly prefer fish and fowl served 

 separately. 



Taken when young from the nest 

 this bird is easily tamed and in olden 

 times in England was trained to fish 

 for his keeper, and the master of the 

 cormorants was'one of the officers of 

 the royal household. 



When the bird was taken out for 

 sport a strap was fastened round its 

 neck so as without stopping its breath 

 to prevent it from swallowing its cap- 

 tures. On getting a fish into the 

 pouch it would return to its keeper, 

 who secured the prize and started the 

 bird off to work again. 



In China the cormorant is also 

 trained to catch fish, but in that coun- 

 try a ring was used in place of a strap 

 for the neck. It takes three years 

 for these birds to get their full plum- 

 age and then the feathers are green 

 and beautifully rnarked. 



The Chinese fishermen go out on 

 rafts made of large bamboos about two 

 and a half feet wide and fifteen or 

 twenty teet long, which they propel 

 with a paddle. On each rait three or 

 four cormorants are generally used. 



Buffons or the Parasite Skua i^Lcs- 

 tris [Sti-rcorarins'] Parasitica). The 

 specimen you now see was shot at 

 Ashbridges Bay and is considered a 

 very rare visitor indeed in this section. 



