PEREGRINE FALCON. 



them the most frequent objects of the falconer's care and 

 tuition, and it is this species which is the most commonly 

 used at the present day by those who still occasionally 

 pursue the amusement of hawking. Formerly this sporting 

 diversion Avas 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 va- 

 rious qualities most in request, that in the reign of James I. 

 Sir Thomas Monson is said to have given one thousand pounds 

 for a cast (a couple) of Hawks. 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, it is 

 here in part introduced. " In the air my noble, generous 

 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, may be learned from the following para- 

 graph in Sir John Sebright's Observations upon Hawking, 

 published in 1826. " The village of Falconswaerd, near 

 Bois-le-Duc, in Holland, has for many years furnished fal- 

 coners to the rest of Europe. I have known many falconers 

 in England, and in the service of different princes on the 

 Continent ; but I never met with one of them who was not 

 a native of Falconswaerd. It has been the practice of these 

 sober and industrious men to stay with their employers dur- 

 ing the season for hawking, and to pass the remainder of the 

 year with their families at home. John Pells, now in the 



VOL. I. D 



