principal sports of mankind and espe- 

 cially of the nobility. Hawks may be 

 trained to a high degree of efficiency in 

 the capturing of other birds. It is said 

 that the Chinese knew of this character- 

 istic of the Hawks at least two thousand 

 years before the time of Christ. In Japan 

 the art of falconry was practiced about 

 •six or seven hundred years before Christ. 



The art is also believed to be repre- 

 sented in a bas-relief found in the Khor- 

 sahad ruins in which a falconer is appar- 

 ently bearing a hawk on his wrist. Thus 

 these ancient ruins of Nineveh show that 

 the art must have been known at least 

 seventeen hundred years before Christ. 



That falconry was known to the an- 

 cient races of Africa is highly probable, 

 though there is but little in the earlier 

 wrritten history of that continent regard- 

 ing it. Egyptian carvings and drawings, 

 however, indicate without a doubt that 

 the art was there known centuries ago. 

 Falconry is still practiced to some extent 

 in Africa. 



The art, though not obsolete in those 

 countries of Europe where, in the mid- 

 dle ages, it was regarded as the greatest 

 and most noble of all sports, is not na- 

 tional in its character. During the reign 

 of William the Conqueror laws were en- 

 acted in England which were most strin- 

 gent regarding falconry. At one time 

 ■"'falcons and hawks were allotted to de- 

 grees and orders of men according to 

 rank and station, to royalty the jerfalcon, 

 to an earl the peregrine, to a yeoman the 

 goshawk, to a priest the sparrow-hawk, 

 and to a knave or servant the useless kes- 

 trel.'' 



To train a hawk for this sport requires 

 -great skill and patienee. The temper, 

 disposition and, in fact, every peculiarity 

 of each individual bird must be carefully 

 studied. In these respects it may be said 

 that no two birds are exactly alike. Tech- 

 nically the name falcon, as used by the 

 falconer, is applied only to the female of 

 the various species used in the conduct- 

 ing of this sport. 



The peregrine falcon or hawk is us- 

 ually accepted as the type falcon of fal- 

 conrry. The name peregrine, from' the 

 Latin peregrinus, means wandering, and 

 refers to the fact that this species is al- 

 most cosmopolitan, though the geo- 



graphical races are given varietal names. 

 The duck hawk .(Falco peregrinus ana- 

 tum) is one of the representatives in 

 America. "The food of this hawk con- 

 sists almost exclusively of birds, of which 

 water-fowl and shore birds form the 

 greater part." 



The Hawks of our illustration are na- 

 tives of North America ranging from 

 Mexico northward. The American 

 Rough-legged Hawk (Archibuteo lago- 

 pus sancti-johannis) is a geographical 

 variety of a rough-legged form that is 

 found in northern Europe and Asia. It 

 is also known by the names of Black 

 Rough-legged and Black Hawk. 



This Hawk is one of the largest and 

 most attractive of all the species of North 

 America. Dr. Fisher tells us that "it is 

 mild and gentle in disposition, and even 

 when adult may be tamed in the course 

 of a few days so that it will take food 

 from the hand and allow its head and 

 back to be stroked. When caged with 

 other species of hawks, it does not as a 

 rule fight for the food, but waits until 

 the others have finished, before it begins 

 to eat." 



In spite of its large size and apparent 

 strength it does not exhibit the spirit that 

 is so characteristic of the falcons. Itpreys 

 almost entirely on field mice and other 

 rodents, frogs- and probably, at times 

 and in certain localities, upon insects 

 especially the grasshoppers. It is said 

 that they will feed upon lizards, snakes 

 "and toads. They do not molest the poul- 

 try of the farmer or the game birds of the 

 field, forest or. of our water courses, at 

 least not to any extent. Their size and 

 their slow and heavy flight would nearly 

 always give sufficient warning to permit 

 the ordinary fowls to seek cover. 



No better evidence as to the character 

 of its food can be furnished than the re- 

 sults of the examination of forty-nine 

 stomachs as related by Dr. Fisher. Of 

 these forty contained mice; five, other 

 mammals ; one, lizards ; one, the remains 

 of seventy insects (this specimen was 

 killed in Nebraska) ; and four, were 

 empty. It is interesting to note "that the 

 southern limit of its wanderings in win- 

 ter is nearly coincident with the south- 

 ern boundary of the region mhabited by 

 meadow mice " 



53 



