KAPACIOUS BIRDS. 71 



and most beautifully-formed birds of the kind; 

 and though not common, can scarcely be said to 

 be rare in this country. Several of the falcon 

 and hawk species have been made useful to man- 

 kind by being trained to catch game of various sorts ; 

 and from very early days, great pains have been 

 taken in rearing them, by people of many nations. 

 The peregrine, being the commonest species, 

 and possessing considerable courage, power, and 

 tractability, is the falcon, specially, of falconers. 

 In the language of falconry, the female bird is 

 always called the falcon ; the male is called the 

 tercel. The " gentil falcon" is the term used in 

 opposition to "low," or "vulgar," denoting the 

 superiority of the bird, which never stoops (like 

 some inferiors of the race) to ignoble game. This 

 bird is said to owe its name (peregrine) to the 

 length of its onward flight, which is also exceed- 

 ingly rapid. Montague says it flies a hundred 

 and fifty miles an hour. 



The heron is the hardest game of the falcon in 

 this country, because of the height at which it 

 flies, and the consequent difficulty of the falcon 

 in getting above it, and the small power it has 

 over any bird that is lower than itself. The heron 

 strives hard to keep above its enemy, because, 

 while it does so, it is perfectly safe. When, how- 

 ever it is mastered in that, it has still the resource 



