BIRDS AS AIDS TO SPORT 369 



been known to the Persians so far back as 865 B.C., while at a 

 still earlier period it was familiar to the Assyrians. 



The Ferret. — The slender bodies of the bloodthirsty mem- 

 bers of the weasel kind enable them to pursue their prey under- 

 ground, and advantage is taken of this peculiarity when rabbits 

 are driven from their burrows by means of Ferrets, which are a 

 domesticated variety of the Pole-Cat i^Putorius fcetidtts). 



BIRDS (Ayes) AS AIDS TO SPORT 



Certain Birds of Prey have been employed from very remote 

 times in the pursuit of wild animals, mostly other birds, but the 

 art of Falconry in Europe has steadily declined since firearms 

 came into general use. Another contributingr cause has been 

 the oTadual increase of the area under cultivation. Lord Gran- 

 ville Gordon (in Sport in Etirope) thus speaks of the antiquity 

 and wide popularity of this form of sport: — " Records of hawking 

 and falconry are supplied in the writings of Pliny and Aristotle. 

 In Japan, in India, Arabia, Persia, and Syria, we can find it 

 has been practised, and in our own Middle Ages stringent laws 

 were passed referring to it. Hawks and falcons were allotted 

 to men according to their rank and station. An earl had a 

 peregrine, a yeoman a goshawk, a priest a sparrow-hawk, and 

 so on. The king of birds in falconry in our Middle Ages was, 

 and even now is, the peregrine, and the noble game at which 

 to fly this bold and splendid bird was the heron; but I do not 

 think this form of sport is followed any longer in our island." 

 Hawkino- for rooks or larks is still, however, to be included in 

 the list of British sports. 



What may be termed a magnified variety of falconry is prac- 

 tised by the Kirghiz of the Asiatic steppes, the " falcon " in this 

 case being no less noble a bird than the Golden Eagle, while the 

 quarry is often the fox or the wolf (fig. 1262). 



MAMMALS (Mammalia) HUNTED FOR SPORT 



Flesh-eating Mammals (Carnivora). — The Lion {Felis leo, 

 fig. 1263) is undoubtedly the noblest quarry that falls to the 

 rifle of the sportsman, while the attendant danger and excitement 

 appeal so strongly to those who engage in this form of sport that 



