WILD ANIMALS TRAINED TO HUNT 95 



jays, magpies, gulls, storks, ibises, spoonbills, pea- 

 fowl, jungle-fowl, bustards, kites, and even gazelles ; 

 while in China some of them are trained to capture 

 butterflies, and in Arabia they are used for the 

 purpose of hunting wild goats. 



Although the practice of falconry has practically 

 ceased to exist in this country, yet in days gone by 

 it was a favourite pastime with all classes of the 

 populace, and according to one's station in life so 

 was the individual assigned a certain kind of hawk 

 for his or her use. The gerfalcon, for instance, 

 was reserved for the sole use of a king ; the falcon 

 gentle or tercel gentle, for a prince ; the falcon 

 of the rock, for a duke ; and the peregrine falcon, 

 for an earl. The use of the bastard falcon was 

 assigned to the baron ; the sacer falcon, to the 

 knight ; and the harrier, to the squire. For the 

 lady was reserved the use of the merlin ; for the 

 young man, the hobby ; while the goshawk was 

 employed by the yeoman. The poor man flew 

 the tercel ; the servant or knave, the kestrel ; 

 while the priest was allowed to hunt with the 

 sparrow-hawk, and the higher grades of the clergy 

 were assigned various birds, according to their 

 rank. Should anybody carry a hawk of a different 

 kind to that allotted to his status in life, he was 

 fined for so doing. 



That falconry was a very ancient form of pastime, 

 is proved by the many records of the same which 

 have been handed down to us. We read that it 

 was practised in China as far back as 2,000 years 

 B.C., and that the Japanese indulged in the sport 



