296 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



rings, and the lunes were then loosely wound round the little finger. Lastly, their legs were adorned 

 with bells fastened with rings of leather — each leg having one — the leathers to which the bells 

 were attached were denominated bewits, and to the bewits was added the creance, or long string, 

 by which, in tutoring, the bird was drawn back after she had been permitted to fly, a proceeding 

 which was called the reclaiming of the Hawk. The bewits, we are informed, were for the purpose of 

 keeping the Hawk from "winding when she bated," that is, when she fluttered her wings to fly after her 

 game. Respecting the bells, it is particularly recommended that they should not be too heavy to 

 impede the flight of the bird, and that they should be of equal weight, sonorous, shrill, and musical, 

 not both of one sound, but the one a semitone below the other. The person who carried the Hawk 

 was also provided with gloves for the purpose of preventing its talons from hurting his hands. In the 

 inventories of apparel belonging to Henry VIII. such articles frequently occur; at Hampton Court, 

 in the jewel house, were " seven Hawks' gloves embroidered." 



Old books on hawking assign to different ranks of persons the sort of Hawks proper to be used 

 by each, and they are enumerated in the following order : — 



"The Eagle, the Vulture, and the Merloun — 

 for an Emperor. 



The Ger-faulcon, and the Tercel of the Ger- 

 faulcon — for a King. 



The Faulcon of the Rock — for a Duke. 



The Faulcon Peregrine — for an Earl. 



The Bastard — for a Baron. 



The Sacre and the Sacret — for a Knight. 



The Lanere and the Laneret — for an Esquire. 

 The Marlyon — for a Lady. 

 The Hobby — for a Young Man. 

 The Goshawk — for a Yeoman. 

 The Tercel — for a Poor Man. 

 The Sparrow Hawk — for a Priest. 

 The Musket— for a Holy Water Clerk. 

 The Kestrel — for a Knave or Servant." 



The above list is interesting, as it may be presumed to contain the names applied to the greater 

 part, if not all, of the birds used in hawking. 



As in hunting, so in hawking the sportsmen had their peculiar expressions, and the uninitiated 

 may read with advantage the terms employed to designate assemblages of various kinds of birds. 

 Thus we read of a sege of Herons or of Bitterns, a herd of Swans, of Cranes, and of Curlews, a dapping 

 of Sheldrakes, a spring of Teals, a covert of Coots, a gaggle of Geese, a badelynge of Ducks, a sord or 

 side of Mallards, a muster of Peacocks, a nye of Pheasants, a bevy of Quails, a covey of Partridges, a 

 congregation of Plovers, a flight of Doves, a dole of Turtles, a walk of Snipes, a fall of Woodcocks, a 

 brood of Chickens, a building of Rooks, a murmuration of Starlings, an exaltation of Larks, a. flight of 

 Swallows, a watch of Nightingales, and a charm of Goldfinches." 



It will thus be seen that many technical expressions once employed in Falconry are still 

 in common use. 



The Mews at Charing Cross, Westminster, were so called from the word Mao, which, in Falconers' 

 language was the name of the place wherein Hawks were kept at the moulting time, when they cast 

 their feathers : the king's Hawks were kept at this place as early as 1377, at the beginning of the 

 reign of Richard II., but a.d. 1537, the 27th of Henry VIII., it was converted into stables for that 

 monarch's horses, and even up to the present time the word Mews is employed to designate the 

 London stables. 



In Central Asia the use of these birds for hunting purposes appears to have been carried on 

 with truly Eastern pomp and profusion, for Marco Polo, who wrote about the year 1290, tells us 

 that when Kublai Khan quitted Hambul he took with him no fewer than 1 0,000 falconers, who were 

 sent out in parties of from 200 to 300 men to hunt over different parts of the country, and were 

 commanded to send all the game they obtained to their master. 



