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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 witli a single 

 resounding blow of the half-closed fist. A good falcon will never seize or " truss " its 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. 



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