Chapter XLI. 



FALCON— THE SAKER, GOSHAWK, HOBBY, 

 MERLIN AND KESTREL. 



I do not remember to have met the saker anywhere 

 near Shanghai or in the neighbouring province, but it is 

 •common farther north, and is a very popular bird with the 

 hawking gentry of the northern plains. Readers must be 

 careful to remember that the classical term for this fine 

 "bird, Falco sacer, has nothing in common with the Latin 

 "sacer" meaning "sacred" but is said to be derived from the 

 Arabic word for falcon. There is so much resemblance 

 between some of the varieties in the falcon family that names 

 are being constantly used the one for the other. Some 

 writers make Falco sacer and Falco lanarius, usually 

 known to Englishmen as the lanner falcon, to be identical. 

 ■Others separate them. To show the minute measurement used 

 in exactdifferentiation,thefollowing,relatingto the saker, may 

 be quoted. "Male — Length one foot seven inches six lines. 

 "Wings thirteen inches and a half. Tail eight inches. Female 

 — Length one foot eight or. nine inches. Wings fourteen 

 ■inches and a half. Tail eight inches and three-quarters. 

 Middle toe one inch eleven lines to two inches." (Temminck 

 and Schlegel.) 



The saker is considerably lighter in his back covering 

 than the peregrine, which he rivals in size. His head varies 

 from the lightest cream to dark brown with still darker 

 splashings typical of the birds of prey. His back is clothed 

 with dark brown feathers edged with lighter tints, his tail 

 barred. The dark markings on the under side are longitudinal 

 instead of transverse. He is known pretty well all over 

 Europe, and has always been prized for his use in sport. In 

 India he is used in the pursuit of the kite, a cousin of the 

 ■common bird which we see describing such beautiful aerial 

 spirals in the air above Shanghai during the winter. A 

 chase of that sort must be something worth watching, for 

 though the saker is more rapid in its movement through the 

 air, the kite is an excellent climber, and it is the fight for 

 height which constitutes half the battle in hawking. The 

 pursuer needs to rise above his quarry before the powerful 

 downward stroke is possible. So in a case of this kind there is 



