396 The late William Brodrich. 



and Ilfracombe, he for several years procured young Peregrines 

 from Luudy Island, discoverin<i:, like every other falconer who 

 has been lucky enough to obtain birds from this well-known 

 eyrie, that in a Lundy hawk he had a falconer's treasure. 

 Falcons from Luudy were much valued in the Middle Ages, and 

 their praises have been echoed by Charles Kings! ey in his 

 " Westward Ho." Well do they deserve it, although of late 

 years the persistent robbery of two eyries, occupied for ages on 

 the island, has resulted, it is feared, in the desertion of both. 

 Indeed, hardly a nest of this noble falcon on any part of our 

 coast, save in a few inaccessible spots, escapes the greed of 

 so-called collectors, much to the regret of naturalists and 

 falconers. After leaving Ilfracombe, Mr Brodrick settled at 

 Chudleigh, but the neighbourhood there being quite unsuited to 

 the practice of his favourite sport, he had reluctantly to give it 

 up, and solaced himself by keeping as pets, most, if not all, of 

 the hawks and falcons usually employed in modern falconry, 

 except the Indian Luggers and Shaheens. Under his care, 

 examples of the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian Jerfalcons, 

 Sakers and Lanners lived for years, a source of admiration to 

 all who saw them. 



But it is as a writer on falconry, and an admirable draughts- 

 man and painter of birds of prey that Mr Brodrick was and will 

 be widely known. In 1855, in conjunction with his old friend, 

 Captain F. H. Salvin, (who from his life-long devotion to 

 falconry may well be called the father of the craft in England), 

 he brought out the first edition of that much-admired work, 

 "Falconry in the British Isles," the capital illustrations to 

 which were all drawn bj' him from the life, the letterpress being 

 the joint production of Captain Salvin and himself, and like the 

 plates, a labour of love. The figures of hawks are in their way 

 inimitable, aiid bear comparison with the best work of his 

 friend and only rival in the same line, the accomplished animal 

 painter, Joseph Wolf. The letterpress has only one fault, that 

 of being too short. It contains, however, almost all that modern 

 falconers deem essential to be told, the works of the old masters 

 — even the best of them — being overladen with errors, notably 

 in the many fanciful and absurd recipes for the cure of real or 

 imaginary diseases in hawks. In this direction it must be 

 confessed the work above mentioned does not err, though we 

 opine that modern falconers would yet be grateful for a somewhat 



