•>•>. 



VERTEBUATA. 



THE MERLIN. (See page 26.) 



The expense of the hawking establishmeut -was sometimes enormous. Under Francis I. of 

 France, the " flower of chivalry" — whose ambition it was to be the arbiter of elegance, the mirror 

 of his age, first in every manly sport, courtly pastime, or gay adventure — incredible sums were 

 devoted to this one amusement. His training establishments were in charge of a Grand Falconer, 

 whose salary was four thousand livres, and who had subordinate to him fifteen noblemen and fifty 

 falconers, with the care of three hundred falcons. The yearly cost of the whole was fifty thou- 

 sand livres. 



Uawking was introduced into England as far back as the tenth century, and appears to have 

 flourished from the time of the Heptarchy to that of Charles 11. Soon after the Norman con- 

 quest it seems to have been at its height. At that time there was a nice adaptation of the dif- 

 ferent kinds of falcons to the diff'erent ranks. Thus, one species of hawks was for kings, and 

 could not be used by any person of inferior dignity; another was for princes of the blood, and 

 others for the dukes and great lords, and so on down to the knave or servant. In all there were 

 fifteen grades. 



The great conquerors of Asia were even more magnificent in the expenses of falconry. The 

 Emperor of China is attended, in his sporting progresses into Tartary, by his Grand Falconer, with 

 one thousand subordinates, and every bird has a silver plate fastened to its foot with the name 

 of the falconer who has charge of it, so that if lost it may be returned to the proper person ; but 

 if he cannot be found it must be handed to a special officer, called the Guardian of Lost Birds, 

 who keeps it till it is demanded by the falconer to whom it belonged. The Grand Falconer, the 

 more easily to be found among the army of hunters, erects a conspicuous standard. 



The American Peregrine Falcon, F. anatum, so closely resembles the European Peregrine 

 Falcon that it was long considered to be identical with that species. It is generally known by 

 the various names of Hen-Hawk, Chicken-Hawk, Big-footed Hawk, and Duck-Hawk, in this coun- 

 try. It is brown above, with transverse bands of deeper tint ; the throat is white ; the breast 

 white, tinged with rose-color, and marked with narrow black longitudinal lines ; the lower parts 



