The Falcons. 57 



in abundance, I must again conduct my readers to Lower Egypt, 

 where the vultures are so numerous, and there kites, hawks, 

 buzzards and harriers, swarm to such a degree that the air seems 

 alive with them ; and on one occasion, from a commanding 

 position on one of the minarets of Cairo (the lofty tower and the 

 clearness of the atmosphere enabling the eye to take in a very 

 wide area), I counted above a hundred individuals of this Order 

 in the air at the same time. The Falconidse, in common with all 

 other birds of prey (and in this again they resemble the carni- 

 vorous quadrupeds), are monogamous, or live in pairs; they 

 seldom drink, but during the heat of summer delight to wash 

 themselves : they usually swallow part of the fur and feathers of 

 their victims with their food, but this and all other indigestible 

 parts, as bones, etc., they afterwards disgorge in large pellets, or 

 castings, by the mouth, and they will often skin animals and 

 pluck birds with the greatest dexterity. In the whole family of 

 Falcons there is a very remarkable difference in size between the 

 male and female, the latter being (contrary to what we see in 

 other kinds) by far the largest and strongest ; and from the fact 

 of the male being usually a third less in size than its mate, it 

 generally received the name of Tiercelet or Tiercel, as a Tiercel 

 Peregrine, a Tiercelet Sparrow-hawk, meaning the males of those 

 species.* They are divided into the long- winged or ' noble,' and 

 the short-winged or ' ignoble/ as they were respectively denomi- 

 nated in the good old days of hawking : the long-winged, or true 

 falcons, were those most highly prized and most frequently 

 reclaimed ; and there are a few plain points of difference by 

 which they may be easily distinguished from their more ignoble 

 brethren. Thus, in the beak of the true falcon we shall find a 

 prominent tooth in the upper mandible, and a corresponding 

 notch in the lower one; while in the short-winged genera we 

 shall see instead of the notch a small festoon, or marginal lobe, 



* Shakespeare uses the word, corrupted into Tassel, in the famous balcony 

 scene of Romeo and Juliet : 



' O, for a falconer's voice, 

 To lure this tassel-gentle back again !' Act ii., scene 2. 



