FALASHAS 



Normandy. It stands on a hill 

 above the town and is largely in- 

 tact, the remains including the keep 

 and Talbot's Tower, dating from 

 the 15th century. Near the town 

 hall is an equestrian statue of 

 William the Conqueror, and there 

 is a fine Norman church at Guibray. 

 As part of Normandy, Falaise was 

 long a possession of the English 

 kings. In 1450 it was finally cap- 

 tured by the French. Pop. 6,847. 



Falashas (Ethiop., strangers). 

 Communities of Hamitic stock, 

 mainly between Aksum and Gon- 

 dar, in Abyssinia. Although allied 

 racially to the Galla, and ignorant 

 of Hebrew and the Talmuds, they 

 profess Judaism, there being three 

 distinct sects. They are farmers 

 and artisans, speaking an Abys- 

 sinian (Agao) dialect, and they 

 practise a rigid racial and ritual 

 exclusiveness. 



Falces. Town of Spain, in the 

 prov. of Navarre. It stands in a 

 plain between the rivers Ebro and 

 Arga, 30 m. S.W. of Pamplona. It 

 has ruins of a Roman castle, but is 

 chiefly known for the mineral 

 springs in the vicinity. Pop. 

 3,200. 



Falchion. Type of sword used in 

 medieval times. It was usually 

 slightly curved, rather heavy, and 

 the blade was broader towards the 

 point than at the hilt. The word is 

 derived from Lat. falx, sickle. See 

 Sword. 



Falcon (Lat. falco). Name ap- 

 plied generally to the family of 

 birds of prey which includes falcons, 

 hawks, kites, and eagles ; but more 

 especially to a sub-family which 

 includes the true falcons, the pere- 

 grine falcon and the kestrels. All 

 these have short, curved beaks 

 with one notch in the upper man- 

 dible, round nostrils, short pointed 

 wings, and long toes. 



Several species of falcon are 

 found in Great Britain. Of these 

 the peregrine falcon builds sparsely 

 on cliffs in the S. of England. It 

 preys mainly on birds, and its rav- 

 ages among game are compensated 

 by the fact that it only attacks the 

 weaklings, and thus tends to main- 

 tain the strength of the breed. It 

 was formerly trained to bring down 

 birds in hawking. 



Other species which occur in 

 the British Isles are the Greenland 

 falcon, the Iceland Jer-falcon, and 

 the Scandinavian Jer-falcon, all of 

 which are occasional winter visi- 

 tants. The birds take their name 

 from the hook-shaped claws (Lat. 

 fals, sickle). See Hawking. 



Falcon. Volcanic island ot the 

 Tongo or Friendly Islands. It is 

 in lat. 20 20' S. and long. 175 20' 

 W. It made its appearance above 

 the ocean on Oct. 14, 1885, after a 



3071 



volcanic erup- 

 tion. It dis- 

 appeared for a 

 time but was 

 again uplifted. 



Falcon. Mari- 

 time state of 

 N. Venezuela, 

 facing the Gulf 

 of Maracaibo 

 and Caribbean 

 Sea and bound- 

 ed S. by the 

 state of Lara. 

 It has been a 

 separate state 

 since 1904, 

 when it was 

 separated from 

 Z u 1 i a. The 

 coastal region 

 is low-lying 

 and sterile, but 

 inland there 

 are several 

 ranges of hills 

 with fertile 

 valleys. Agri- 

 culture and 

 stock-raising 

 are the chief 

 industries ; 

 coffee, cocoa, 

 sugar, cotton, 

 tobacco, and 

 maize are pro- 

 duced. Coal is 

 worked in small 

 quantities, but 

 the mineral re- 

 sources of the 

 state are virtu- 

 ally untapped. 

 Pop. 170,154. 



Falcone, ANIELLO 



FALCONER 



Falcon. Species found in the British Isles. 1. Iceland 



Jer-falcon. 2. Greenland falcon. 3. Peregrine falcon. 



4. Scandinavian Jer-falcon 



The capital is Coro. 



(1600-65). 



Italian painter. Born in Naples, he 

 was a pupil of Ribera, and became 

 famous as a spirited painter of 

 battle-scenes. During the insurrec- 

 tion of Masaniello, 1647, Falcone 

 gathered a band of his friends and 

 pupils, among whom was Salvator 

 Rosa (q.v.\ and this " Company of 

 Death " made many Spaniards pay 

 with their li ves for the murder of 

 the leader's nephew and of one of 

 his pupils. Pictures painted of 

 these events are in the museum at 

 Naples. Falcone worked in Paris 

 from 1648-56, when he returned to 

 Naples, where he died. His Fight 

 between Turks and Cavalry is in 

 the Louvre. 



Falconer, HUGH( 1808-65). Scot- 

 tish botanist. Born at Forres, Feb. 

 29, 1808, Falconer was educated at 

 Aberdeen and Edinburgh universi- 

 ties, and entered the service of the 

 E. India Company as a surgeon 

 in 1830. His chief interests, how- 

 ever, were in palaeontology and 

 botany, in which sciences he 

 made many important investi- 

 gations. He experimented in tea- 



planting in India, and also dis- 

 covered the assafoetida plant, used 

 in medicine. Returning to England 

 for a time, he arranged the Indian 

 fossils at the British Museum,1844- 

 47, and then returned to India as 

 professor of botany and curator of 

 the botanical gardens of Calcutta, 

 where he worked from 1848-55. 

 Retiring in 1856, he died in London, 

 Jan. 31, 1865. 



Falconer, Sm ROBERT ALEX- 

 ANDER (b. 1867). Canadian scholar. 

 Born Feb. 10, 1867, at Charlotte- 

 town, Prince Edward Island, he 

 was the son of a Presbyterian 

 minister. His education, begun in 

 Trinidad, was continued at the 

 university of Edinburgh and at 

 German universities, after which, 

 in 1892, he returned to Canada and 

 was ordained in the Presbyterian 

 ministry. He became lecturer at 

 Pine Hill College, Halifax, his 

 subject being N.T. Greek. In 1904 

 he was made principal of Pine Hill, 

 and in 1907 was chosen president 

 of Toronto University. He was 

 knighted in 1917. 



Falconer, WILLIAM (1732-69). 

 Scottish poet. Born at Edinburgh, 

 Feb. 11, 1732, the son of a barber, 



