it 



o^s^iTHOLogr. BookII. 



The name. 

 Its Bignefs ; ; 



Crown, 

 Ecak. 



Eyes, 



Colour of the 

 feathers. 



The Wings. 

 Colour of the 

 Breaft . 

 The Train. 



Legs and 

 Feet. 



The fhape of 

 a good Jer- 

 falcon. 

 Its Head, 



Forehead, 



Eyes, 



Nares, 



Beak, 



Neck, 



Body, 

 ' . Wings. 



Wing-fea- 

 thers. 



Train fea- 

 thers. 



Craw. 



Ereaft. 



Legs, Feet, 

 Talons. 



Its Nature 

 and Game. 



§. III. 



* The Jer-Falcon, whofe Male or Tarcel is. called the Jerkin. 



IT feem to take its name from the High Dutch word Gyrfalc, i. e. a ravenous Falcon 

 or Vulturine Falcon : for Gyr in High Dutch fignifies a Vulture. 

 This, however Aldrovandus contradi&s it, exceeds all other Falcons, even that 

 called the Sacre in magnitude. Of that which Aldrovandus defcribed this was the 

 fhape: The Crown was plain and deprefled, of an am- colour. The Beak thick,ftron? 

 lhort, blue 3 bowed downward with a mean-fized hook, but very (harp, 'ftrong 

 and blewilh. The Pupil of the Eyes very black, the Irk or Circle encompa'fling the 

 Pupil blue. The Back, Wings, Belly, and Train were white : But the feathers of 

 the Back and Wings were almoft every one marked with a black fpot, imitating in fome 

 meafurethe figure of a heart, like the Eyes in a Peacocks tail. The flag- feathers of 

 the Wings near their tips beautified with a bigger and longer black mark, which is 

 yet cnclofed with a white margin or border. - The Wings very long, fo that they 

 wanted but little of reaching to the end of the Tail. The Throat, Breaft, and Bel- 

 ly purely white, without any fpots at all. The Tail not very long, yea, in reipect. of 

 its body and thofe of other Falcons rather fhort, marked with tranfverfe black bars. 

 The Legs and Feet of a delayed blue. The Legs thick and ftrong. The Toes Ion?* 

 ftrong, broad-fpread, covered all over with a continued Series of board-like 

 Scales. 



Of Gyr falcons, according to Carcanus, there be divers kinds, diftinguifhed by the 

 colours of their feathers. 



Frederic/^ the Emperour doth thus defcribe the fhape of a good Jer-Falcon. The 

 upper part of the Head muft not be raifed upward into a bunch, but every where 

 equal : The forepart of the Head large and broad 5 that part alfo above the Eyes 

 large: The Eye-brows high or ftandingout [_eminentia.~] The Eyes hollow: The 

 Nofthrils great and open : The Beak thick, crooked, and hard : The Neck toward 

 the Head flender, toward the fhoulders thick. The Body muft grow uniformly nar- 

 rower and fharp all along to the very Tail, obferving that form which Geometricians 

 call Pyramidal It muft have Wings elevated toward the back, not hanging down, 

 but when gathered up, near the Tail fo lying one upon the other, that they interfecf 

 one another in form of a Crofs. The beam-feathers of the Wings, as well thofe that 

 cover, as thofe that are covered, that is, as well the upper as the under ones muft be 

 broad and hard. The covering feathers by how much the more they cover the others 

 by fo touch the more commendable are they. The Tail-feathers when it doth not fly 

 are gathered up in a lump under the two uppermoft [that is, the middlemoft ] which 

 are called the coverers. The Gullet [_ Gula, I fuppofe he means the Craw ] muft be 

 large and deep, and after much meat taken in, fwell a little, and be round when full 

 of meat: The Breaft prominent outward, flefhy, and thick. The Thighs great; The 

 Legs fhort and thick : Thefoles of the Feet alfo thick and large 5 the Toes long, lean, 

 rough, fcaly, and well fpread : The Talons flender, crooked, and fharp. 



It is a couragious, fierce, and very bold Bird, catching all forts of Fowl how great 

 foever, and is terrible to other Falcons and Gofiawkj. It chief Game are Cranes and 

 Heroes. 



Its figure, 



Head, 



Beak, 

 Nares, 

 Eyes, 



§. IV. 



* The Mountain Falcon: 



THe greateft part of thete Falcons are of a mean ftature: Few found very big : 

 Many of a fmall body, and that in fome round, in fome long. Albertus attri- 

 butes to a Mountain Falcon almoft the fame bignefs as to a Gojlwwk C Afturi~] only 

 makes it fhorter bodied: Gives it a round Breaft, and when it ftands on its feet a 

 Pyramidal figure, refembling a Pyramid fomewhat comprefied on that fide the back 

 makes. Almoft all of them have a round Head, a tzipex\_faftigiatum~\ Crown, and 

 black, encompafled with a kind of afh-coloured Coronet: In the Forehead, not far 

 from the Beak, ftand up certain very fine and flender feathers, as it were hairs, among 

 the black or brown ones, which yet are but few, and in fome Birds none at all. They 

 have a thick, fhort, black Bill 5 narrow Nofthrils 5 fmall Eyes and Eye-lids. The 



Throat 



