HISTORY OF 



from thence the male is called by falconers, a 

 tercel; that is, a tierce or third less than the 

 other. The reason of this difference cannot pro- 

 ceed from the necessity of a larger body in the 

 female for the purposes of breeding, and that her 

 volume is thus increased by the quantity of her 

 eggs ; for in other birds, that breed much faster, 

 and that lay in much greater proportion, such as 

 the hen, the duck, or the pheasant, the male is 

 by much the largest of the two. Whatever be the 

 cause, certain it is that the females, as Willough- 

 by expresses it, are of greater size, more beauti- 

 ful and lovely for shape and colours, stronger, 

 more fierce and generous than the males ; whe- 

 ther it may be that it is necessary for the female 

 to be thus superior, as it is incumbent upon her 

 to provide, not only for herself, but her, young 

 ones also. 



These birds, like quadrupeds of the carnivor- 

 ous kind, are all lean and meagre. Their flesh is 

 stringy and ill tasted, soon corrupting, and tinc- 

 tured with the flavour of that animal food upon 

 which they subsist. Nevertheless, Belonius as- 

 serts, that many people admire the flesh of the 

 vulture and falcon, and dress them for eating, 

 when they meet with any accident that unfits them 

 for the chase. He asserts that the osprey, a spe- 

 cies of the eagle, when young, is excellent food ; 

 but he contents himself with advising us, to breed 

 these birds up for our pleasure rather in the field 

 than for the table. 



Of land birds of a rapacious nature, there are 

 five kinds. The eagle kind, the hawk kind, the 



