RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 73 



hawking,' written 1826, has described the mode 

 of %ing peregrine falcons at herons, as then prac- 

 tised in Norfolk ; and a new work on British 

 Falconry has just been published by Mr. Salvin, 

 an amateur of Yorkshire. A few English hawks 

 are annually trained in the neighbourhood of 

 Bridport in Dorsetshire, for the taking of land- 

 rails in the hemp or flax fields near that town, in 

 which, during some summers, those birds are 

 very plentiful. 



In Kussia, there still exist the practices of the 

 old chase, and all the mysteries of falconry are 

 studied and understood by the grand seignors, 

 who keep up the traditions of their ancestors. 

 Their love of hunting is probably derived from 

 their Scythian progenitors or from the Tartars, 

 whose khans took great delight in the pursuit of 

 beasts of prey by dogs and birds. The large Iceland 

 falcons and all, the long- winged hawks are trained 

 with great care, and several establishments of the 

 kind are well known and celebrated in Eussia for 

 the excellence of the birds brought up within 

 their precincts. 



In Siberia, several very strong, fierce, and swift 

 hawks, larger than gyr falcons, and of great 

 courage and bea^y, are found, which are held in 

 much esteem, and are sold at high prices. These 

 birds will pursue a fox, and strike out his eyes 



