THE PEREGRINE FALCON. 57 
stances are rare. Mr, Selby, in his “ British Ornithology,” gives a similar 
instance of daring to that related by Mr. Thompson, from the account of 
Mr Sinclair. “In exercising my dogs upon the moors, previous to the com- 
mencement of the shooting season, I observed a large bird of the hawk 
genus hovering at a distance, which, upon approaching, I knew to be a Per- 
egrine Falcon. Its attention was now drawn towards the dogs, and it 
accompanied them while they beat the surrounding ground. Upon their 
having found and sprung a brood of grouse, the Falcon immediately gave 
chase, and struck a young bird before they had proceeded far upon the wing. 
My shouts and rapid advance prevented it from securing its prey. The issue 
of this attempt, however, did not deter the Falcon from watching our subse- 
quent*movements; and another opportunity soon offering, it again gave 
chase, and struck down two birds by two rapidly-repeated blows, one of 
which it secured and bore off in triumph.” The flight of this faleon, when 
pursuing its quarry, is astonishingly rapid. Montagu has reckoned it at the 
rate of one hundred and fifty miles an hour; and Colonel Thornton, an 
expert falconer, estimated the flight of one in pursuit of a snipe to have 
been nine in eleven minutes, without including the frequent turnings. 
The Peregrine Falcon was regarded yery highly in the practice of fal- 
conry ; an art which, in former days, engaged the most earnest attention, 
and is still a common amusement among the Turks in some parts of Asia 
Minor, among the Persians, Circassians, and the wandering hordes of Tur- 
comans and Tartars. “ Hawking appears to have been introduced into Eng- 
land from the north of Europe during the fourth century. Our Saxon 
ancestors became passionately fond of the sport, but do not appear to have 
made great progress in the art of training their birds. In the eighth cen- 
tury, one of the kings of that race caused a letter to be written to Winnitred, 
Archbishop of Mons, begging the dignitary to send him some falcons that 
had been well trained to kill cranes. The month of October was more par- 
ticularly devoted to that sport by the Saxons. We are indebted to our fierce 
invaders, the Danes, for many improvements in falconry. Denmark, and 
still more Norway, were always celebrated for their breeds of hawks, and 
the natives of these countries had attained an extraordinary degree of skill 
in the art of training them. In the eleventh century, when Canute, King 
of Denmark and Norway, ascended the English throne, the sport became 
more prevalent. We are not aware of what restrictions were imposed under 
the Saxon or Danish monarchs, but after the conquest by William of Nor- 
mandy, none but persons of the highest rank were allowed to keep hawks. 
Cruel laws, with respect to field sports, were framed, and rigorously executed 
by the first princes of the Norman dynasty. According to the liberal views 
of those times, the people were held utterly unworthy of partaking anything 
