THE HAWK TRIBE. 121 



of expense far beyond the cost of fox-hunting, racing, or any 

 of the field-sports of modern times. Of the value and import- 

 ance attached to birds of the right breed (for all Hawks were 

 far from being equally good), we may form some idea from the 

 attention paid by the King of Denmark in procuring and pre- 

 serving certain Falcons, which were in the highest estima- 

 tion, from the island of Iceland, and were then, and still are, 

 known by the names of the Iceland Falcon and the Greenland 

 Falcon. They were reputed the two most formidable and active, 

 as well as the most prompt and intrepid, of our birds of prey. 

 In the winter, whole flights of these birds come over from 

 Greenland and the Arctic regions, where they probably breed 

 and pass the summer, as Captain Sir Edward Parry saw them 

 frequently in his last voyage. These Icelandic Falcons were 

 always considered the best for sport, lasting ten or twelve 

 years ; whereas those from Norway, not above two or three 

 years ; they are also superior in size, and gifted with extra- 

 ordinary qualities. So much were they indeed prized, that 

 an ancient Danish law inflicted the punishment of death on 

 any person found guilty of destroying them ; and those en- 

 gaged in taking them were bound, under heavy penalties, to 

 deliver them to no other person whatever but the king's own 

 falconer; and even so late as 1758, the spirit of the law was 

 not much changed, judging from the following account of a 

 writer on Icelandic history. He tells us that the King of 

 Denmark sends every year a falconer, with two attendants. 

 On landing, they repair to a house called the King's Falcon- 

 house, for the purpose of receiving the birds caught by per- 

 sons who are licensed, and are native Icelanders. About 

 midsummer these catchers bring their birds on horseback, 

 holding a pole, with another fixed across it, on which ten or 

 twelve sit, all capped ; that is, with their heads covered with 

 caps or hoods. This pole is held in their hand, and rested 

 on the stirrup. The falconer examines them very carefully, 

 and returning those that are of an inferior sort, sends off 

 the best to Denmark. During the voyage they are arranged 

 between the decks, tied to poles, two rows of a side ; these 



