482 



A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER LXXXV. 



OF THE FALCON KIND, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



EVERY creature becomes more important 

 in the. history of nature in proportion as it is 

 connected with man. In tfiis view, the smal- 

 lest vegetable, or the most seemingly con- 

 temptible insect, is a subject more deserving 

 attention than the most flourishing tree, or 

 the most beautiful of the feathered creation. 

 In this view, the falcon is a more important 

 animal than the eagle or the vulture; and, 

 though so very diminutive in the comparison, 

 is, notwithstanding, from its connexion with 

 our pleasures, a much more interesting ob- 

 ject of curiosity. 



The amusement of hawking, indeed, is now 

 pretty much given over in this kingdom; for 

 as every country refines, as its enclosures be- 

 come higher and closer, those rural sports 

 must consequently decline, in which the game 

 is to be pursued over a long extent of coun- 

 try; and where, while every thing retards 

 the pursuer below, nothing can stop the ob- 

 ject of his pursuit above. 



Falconry, that is now so much disused 

 among us, was the principal amusement of 

 our ancestors. A person of rank scarcely 

 stirred out without his hawk on his hand ; 

 which in old paintings is the criterion of no- 

 bility. Harold, afterwards king of England, 

 when he went on a most important embassy 

 into JSormandy, is drawn in an old bas-relief, 

 as embarking with a bird on his fist, and a 

 dog under his arm. In those days, it was 

 thought sufficient for noblemen's sons to wind 

 the horn, and to carry their hawk fair, and 

 leave study and learning to the children of 

 meaner people. Indeed, this diversion was 

 in such high esteem among the great all over 

 Europe, that Frederic, one of the emperors 

 of Germany, thought it not beneath him to 

 write a treatise upon hawking. 



The expense which attended this sport was 

 very great : among the old Welsh princes, 

 the king's falconer was the fourth officer in 

 the state ; but, notwithstanding all his honours, 



he was forbid to take more than three draughts 

 of beer from his horn, lest he should get 

 drunk and neglect his duty. In the reign of 

 James I. Sir Thomas Monson is said to have 

 given a thousand pounds fora cast of hawks; 

 and such was their value in general, that it 

 was made felony in the reign of Edward III. 

 to steal a hawk. To take its eggs, even in a\ 

 person's own ground, was punishable with 

 imprisonment for a year and a day, together 

 with a fine at the king's pleasure. In the 

 reign of Elizabeth the imprisonment was re- 

 duced to three months; but the offender was 

 to lie in prison till he got security for his 

 good behaviour for seven years farther. In 

 the earlier times the art of gunning was but 

 little practised, and the hawk was then va- 

 luable, not only for its affording diversion, 

 but for its procuring delicacies for the table, 

 that could seldom be obtained any other way. 



Of many of the ancient falcons used for 

 this purpose, we at this time know only the 

 names, as the exact species are so ill de- 

 scribed, that one may be very easily mistaken 

 for another. Of those in use, at present, both 

 here and in other countries, are the gyr-fal- 

 con, the falcon, the lanner, the sacre, the 

 hobby, the kestril, and the merlin. These 

 are called the long-winged hawks, to distin- 

 guish them from the goss-hawk, the sparrow- 

 hawk, the kite, and the buzzard, that are of 

 shorter wing, and either too slow, too cow- 

 ardly, too indolent, or too obstinate, to be 

 serviceable in contributing to the pleasures 

 of the field. 



The generous tribe of hawks, as was said, 

 are distinguished from the rest by the pecu- 

 liar length of their wings, which reach near- 

 ly as low as the tail. In these, the first quill 

 of the wing is nearly as long as the second ; 

 it terminates in a point, which begins to di- 

 minish from about an inch of its extremity. 

 This sufficiently distinguishes the generous 

 breed from that of the baser race of kites, 



