A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



ducks, but it is a magnificent bird to watch 

 on the wing, being admirably adapted for 

 speed, strength, and endurance. Indeed, it 

 is the most beautiful of all the true falcons 

 to behold. 



In falconry, peregrines were the most 

 highly valued of birds on account of their 

 speed and pluck. The hen bird, being the 

 larger of the two, is always spoken of by 

 falconers as the falcon, the male bird being 

 known as the tiercel or tercel. Passage hawks 

 are those birds which are caught during their 

 autumn migration to the south, and these, 

 after being trained, always prove superior to 

 eyasses i.e. birds that have been captured 

 as nestlings. Many passage hawks are taken 

 during the autumn in certain districts in 

 Holland, where arrangements are made for 

 their capture. The falconer establishes him- 

 self in a small hut dug out of the soil in a 

 locality where the migrating birds are to be 

 seen. A pole is erected and connected with 

 a cord, to which a live pigeon is tied, the 

 other end of the cord being in the inside 

 of the hut, where the falconer is concealed. 

 This pigeon is also provided with a " bolt- 

 hole " in the turf, as is a second pigeon, and 

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