The Zoologist— September, 1866. 357 



" And often lo our comfort shall we find 

 The sharded beetle in a safer hold 

 Than is the full-wing'd eagle." 



Cymbeline, Act iii. Scene 3. 



In India, Tartary, China, Persia and other parts of the East, the 

 eagle was formerly, and is still to a certain extent, used for hunting 

 down the larger birds and beasts. (See Sir J. Malcolm's ' Sketches of 

 Persia,' and Johnston's ' Sketches of Indian Field Sports.') We read 

 that in the thirteenth century the Khan of Tartary " kept upwards of 

 two hundred hawks and eagles, some of which had been trained to 

 ■ catch wolves; and such was the boldness and power of these birds 

 that none, however large, could escape from their talons." Burton, 

 in his 'Anatomy of Melancholy' (Lond. 1676, fol.. Part 2, p. 169), 

 quoting from Sir Anthony Shirley's ' Travels,' says, " The Muscovian 

 Emperours reclaim eagles to let fly at hindes, foxes, &c., and such a 

 one was sent for a present to Queen Elizabeth." 



Owing, no doubt, not only to the greater difficulty in training them, 

 but also to the difficulty of obtaining them, eagles are rarely trained 

 to the chase in England. Captain Green, of Buckden, in Hunting- 

 donshire, had a very fine golden eagle which he had taught to take 

 hares and rabbits: and this species has been found lo be more 

 tractable than either the spotted or the whitetailed eagle. 



Judging from one or two allusions in his plays, Shakespeare 

 appears to have been aware of the eagle's use in falconry. In the fol- 

 lowing passage two hawking terms are used in connexion with this 

 bird : — 



^ " Know the gallant monarch is in arms, 

 And, like an eagle o'er his aiery, towers 

 To souse annoyance that comes near his nest." 



King John, Act v. Scene 2. 



This passage has been differently rendered, by removing the punc- 

 tuation between "aiery" and "towers," and reading the former 

 " airey " or " airy," and making " towers " a substantive. But I think 

 the meaning of the passage, as it stands above, is sufficiently 

 clear, 



" Aiery " is equivalent to " eyrie," the nesting-place ; and the verb 

 ' to tower " is a common expression in falconry, signifying " to rise 

 spirally to a height." Compare the French word "tour." As a 

 further argument, too, for reading " towers " as a verb and not as a 

 substantive, compare the following passages from the same play and 



