TIERCEL GENTLE: A HIT ON GROUSE 



Scotland must receive the credit for perpetuating the " Noble Art " when it had languished over the rest 

 of western Europe, and no quarry is better suited to the capacities of the Peregrine, or " Gentle Falcon," 

 than the Scotch red grouse. But the " gentle " part is forgotten when the hawk makes its thunderbolt assault, 

 diving on its victim from a height or "pitch" of hundreds of feet, usually killing it clean with a single 

 resounding blow of the half-closed fist. A good falcon will never seize or " truss " i's quarry. 



The term tiercel (meaning the male of various species of falcon) is derived from the Latin tertius, accord- 

 ing to some because every third bird in the nest is supposed to be a male ; according to others because the 

 male is supposed to be a third smaller than the female. 



Ill 



