322 Notice of a Goshawk, 8fc, by Sir W. Elliot. 



few years (1836). Proa, I., 101. Interesting notices of its habits 

 have been given by Mr Selby, lb., I., 109, and Gordon Forster, 

 II., 173; and Gray states that it seems to appear at irregular 

 intervals, three or four having been shot in Berwickshire in June, 

 1845. They were again seen in 1863-4; and one was killed at 

 Newton Don in May, 1867. 



16. The Marsh- Harrier, or, Moor Buzzard, (Circus JEruginosus, 

 L., Lacepede, 1800), is a permanent resident, but has now become 

 rare. Selby, I., 256. 



17. The Hen-Harrier, or, Ringtail, (Circus cyaneus, L., Cuv., 

 1817), is a permanent resident, and not uncommon, lb. Prof. 

 Duns notes its breeding regularly in Berwickshire, but adds that 

 from recent inquiries it seems to be seldom met with now. 



18. Montagu's Harrier, {Circus cincraceus, Montagu, 1802 ; 

 C. Montagui, Vieillot, 1819). Very rare. A specimen in Mr 

 Selby's possession was killed near Detchant, Proa, I., 256. Mr 

 Broderick reported a fine specimen caught in a trap at Alnwick, 

 on the 9th May, 1847 ; lb., II., 201. 



The value attached to some of these birds in the palmy 

 days of falconry, so different from the ruthless persecution 

 which now threatens their total extermination, will excuse a 

 few observations on a sport little followed in these days at 

 home, but still cherished in India, where at one time I saw 

 a good deal of it. Indeed, it is from the East that it is 

 supposed to have been originally derived. The people of 

 Asia have always displayed a remarkable aptitude for subdu- 

 ing the wild habits of animals and rendering them subservi- 

 ent to the purposes of man; as exemplified not only in 

 reclaiming falcons, but also in training the elephant, the 

 hunting leopard, the cormorant taught to capture fish in 

 China, &c. The art has been made the subject of numerous 

 treatises in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish,* as it has in our 

 own country, in the celebrated " Boke of St. Albans," of 

 Dame Juliana Berners (1486). 



In Europe, falcons are classed as long winged (or noble) 

 and short winged, according as they are fitted for continued 

 or for short flight ; but in the East, they are distinguished, 



* I presented five MS. treatises in Persian, bearing the general title of 

 " Baz-na-mah," to the library of tbe India Uffice ; and the German orientalist, 

 Count Yon Hammer Purgstall, has published a volume entitled " Falkner 

 klee," containing three treatises : 1st, a Turkish Baz-na-mah, from the 

 Ambrosian Library at Milan; 2nd, a Greek work called HIERAKOSOPHION 

 (or, Habichte lehre) ; and 3rd, the MS. (Hand schrift) on Falcoruy of the 

 Emperor Maximilian ; with translations into German of the Turkish and 

 Greek texts. Vienna, 1840. 



