54 FALCONID^. 



the pride of the rich, and these birds, as well as their eggs, 

 were preserved by various legislative enactments. So valuable 

 were they considered when possessed of the various qualities 

 most in request, that in the reign of James I. Sir Thomas 

 Monson is said to have spent a thousand pounds in obtaining 

 two Falcons ; and a variety of interesting details as to the 

 price of these and other Hawks, will be found in Mr. Hart- 

 ing's ' Ornithology of Shakespeare.' The qualities of a good 

 Falcon have been so aptly described by Walton in his ' Com- 

 plete Angler,' as addressed by Auceps to his companions, 

 that, illustrating the powers and habits of the bird, the pas- 

 sage is here in part introduced. " In the air my noble, gene- 

 rous Falcon ascends to such a height, as the dull eyes of 

 beasts and fish are not able to reach to : their bodies are too 

 gross for such high elevation ; but from which height, I can 

 make her to descend by a word from my mouth, which she 

 both knows and obeys, to accept of meat from my hand, to 

 own me for her master, to go home with me, and be willing 

 the next day to afford me the like recreation." 



How much the former predilection for this particular sport 

 has now subsided, is well known, and though it will doubt- 

 less for a long time number some votaries in these islands, 

 the change which the face of the country has undergone 

 during the last century — to say nothing of the improvement 

 in fire-arms, renders it futile for any but the most sanguine 

 to hope that the palmy days of Falconry may be restored. 

 The flight of the Heron to his home, when the best oppor- 

 tunity is afforded to the falconer, is nowadays rendered 

 uncertain and rare, through the complete drainage of wide 

 tracts of land, and the larger heronries are in a great mea- 

 sure broken up and their inhabitants scattered. Failing the 

 Heron, the Rook affbrds the best and surest sport, but Rook- 

 hawking requires an open country, devoid of trees which 

 may shelter the quarry, and the custom of planting has now 

 become general, and has deprived many such a district of its 

 former aptitude for the pursuit of this amusement. Yet the 

 practice of Falconry is still far from being extinct with us, 

 and in certain parts of all three of the United Kingdoms it 



