270 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Falcoks 



his reign, Henry VIII. issued a proclamation in 

 order to preserve the partridges, pheasants, and 

 herons, " from his palace at Westminster to St. 

 GIles's-in-the-Fields, and from thence to Islington, 

 Hampstead, Highgate, .and Hornsey Park." Any 

 person, of whatsoever rank, who should presume 

 to kill or in anywise molest these birds, was to be 

 thrown into prison, and visited by such other punish- 

 ments as should seem meet to his highness the 

 king. 



It is worthy of remark that Henry VIII. removed 

 the royal hawks (which had been kept there during 

 many reigns) from the Mews at Charing Cross, and 

 converted that place into stables. According to 

 Stow, the king of England's falcons were kept at 

 the Mews in Charing Cross as early as 1377, or the 

 time of the unhappy Richard II. The term " Mews," 

 in falconer's language, meant strictly a place where 

 hawks were put at the moulting season, and where 

 they cast their feathers. The name, confirmed by 

 the usage of so long a period, remained to the build- 

 ing at Charing Cross, though Henry VIII. had so 

 changed its destination as to make it inapplicable. 

 But what, however, is much more curious is this, — 

 that when in more modern times the people of 

 London began to build ranges of stabling at the 

 back of their streets and houses, they christened 

 those places " Mews," after the old stabling at Cha- 

 ring Cross, which, as we have shown, was misnamed 

 from the time the hawks were withdrawn from it. 

 In accidental modes like this many an old word is 

 turned from its original meaning, which eventually 

 is altogether lost. 



The old travellers Marco Polo and Father Ru- 

 bruquis give graphic descriptions of hawking among 

 the Mongol Tartars, during the thirteenth century, 

 which sport was conducted in a style of barbaric 

 magnificence. The Khan had, among other birds 

 of prey, eagles trained to stoop at wolves, and such 

 was their size and strength, that none, however 

 large, could escape from their talons. Recent tra- 

 vellers in Central Asia make frequent mention of 

 hawks and hawking. Mr. Johnson, in his ' Indian 

 Field- Sports,' describes the sport as carried on by 

 the princes and nobles of India. The late Sir John 

 Malcolm, in his delightful little work called 'Sketches 

 of Persia,' also gives some very animated descriptions 

 of these sports. He frequently partook in thern 

 during his journeys and embassies to the court of 

 the Shah. In speaking of his stay at Abusheher (a 

 place on the Persian Gulf), he says, — " The hunts- 

 men proceed to a large plain, or rather desert, near 

 the sea-side ; they have hawks and greyhounds ; the 

 hawks carried in the usual manner on the hand of 

 the huntsman; the dogs led in a leash by a horse- 

 man, generally the same who carries the hawk. 

 When an antelope is seen, they endeavour to get as 

 near as possible; but the animal, the moment it 

 observes them, goes off at a rate that seems swifter 

 than the wind : the horsemen are instantly at full 

 speed, having slipped the dogs. If it is a single deer, 

 they at the same time fly the hawks : but if a herd, 

 they wait till the dogs have fixed on a particular 

 antelope. The hawks, skimming along near the 

 ground, soon reach the deer, at whose head they 

 pounce in succession, and sometimes with a violence 

 that knocks it over. At all events they confuse the 

 animal so much as to stop its speed in such a degree 

 that the dogs can come up; and in an instant, men, 

 horses, dogs, and hawks surround the unfortunate 

 deer, against which their united efforts have been 

 combined. The part, of the chase that surprised 

 me most was the extraordinary combination of the 

 hawks and the dogs, which throughout seemed to 

 look to each other for aid. This, I was told, was 

 the result of long and skilful training. 



' : The antelope is supposed to be the fleetest 

 quadruped on earth, and the rapidity of the first 

 burst of the chase I have described is astonishing. 

 The run seldom exceeds three or four miles, and 

 often is not half so much. A fawn is an easy vic- 

 tory ; the doe often runs a good chase ; and the buck 

 is seldom taken. The Arabs are indeed afraid to 

 fly their hawks at a buck, as these fine birds, in 

 pouncing, at times impale themselves on its sharp 

 horns. 



" The hawks used in this sport are of a species I 

 have never seen in any other country. This breed, 

 which is called Cherkh, is not large, but of great 

 beauty and symmetry. * * * 



"The novelty of these amusements interested 

 me ; and I was pleased, on accompanying a party 

 to a village, about twenty miles from Abusheher, to 

 see a species of hawking peculiar, I believe, to the 

 sandy plains of Persia, on which the Hubara, a noble 

 species of bustard, is found on almost bare plains, 

 where it has no shelter but a small shrub called 

 geetuck. When we went in quest of them, we 

 were a party of about twenty, all well mounted. 

 Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this sport ; 

 the first, the cherkh (the same which is flown at 

 the antelope), attacks them on the ground, but will 

 not follow them on the wing ; for this reason, the 



Bhyree, a hawk well known in India, is flown the 

 moment the hubara rises. 



"As we rode along, in an extended line, the men 

 who carried the cherkhs every now and then un- 

 hooded and held them up, that they might look 

 over the plain. The first hubara we found afforded 

 us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of 

 one of the hawks ; she fluttered to be loose, and the 

 man who held her gave a whoop as he threw her off 

 his hand, and then set off at full speed. We all did 

 the same. At first we only saw our hawk skimming 

 over the plain, but soon perceived, at the distance 

 of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled hubara, 

 with his head erect and wings outspread, running 

 forward to meet his adversary. The cherkh made 

 several unsuccessful pounces, which were either 

 evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the 

 hubara, which at last found an opportunity of rising, 

 when a bhyree was instantly flown, and the whole 

 party were again at full gallop. We had a flight of 

 more than a mile, when the hubara alighted and 

 was killed by another cherkh, who attacked him on 

 the ground. This bird weighed ten pounds. We 

 killed several others, but were not always successful, 

 having seen our hawks twice completely beaten 

 during the two days that we followed this fine 

 sport." 



To those who wish to enter more fully into the 

 mysteries of hawking, we recommend Turbevill 

 among the old writers, and Sir John Sebright 

 (' Observations on Hawking') as the best modern 

 authority on the subject. 



1246.— The Merlin 



(Falco 2Esalon) . This small but beautiful and high- 

 spirited falcon is a native of Europe, and breeds in 

 our British Islands ; Mr. Selby has found its nest 

 frequently in the upland moors of Northumberland. 

 Dr. Heysham mentions three instances that came 

 to his knowledge of merlins' nests in Cumberland, 

 where he says the bird remains all the year. It 

 breeds in several parts of Wales, and, according to 

 Mr. Eyton, on the mountain of Cader Idris. It is 

 indigenous in Ireland, breeding on the mountains of 

 Londonderry, Mourne (Down), Claggan (Antrim), 

 Clonmel (Tipperary), Youghal (Cork), and other 

 places. The nest is loosely made upon the ground 

 among the heath. Larks, thrushes, fieldfares, and 

 partridges constitute the prey of this species, which 

 it strikes with great, address. According to Mr. 

 Thompson, it frequents the sea-shore in pursuit of 

 dunlins (Tringa variabilis), which it has been seen 

 to kill. 



Merlins were formerly used in the field, and, as 

 the author of the ' Book of Falconrie ' says, they 

 become " passing good hawkes and verie skilful ; 

 their property by nature is to kill thrushes, larks, 

 and partridges. They flee with greater fierceness 

 and more hotely than any other hawke of prey. 

 They are of greater pleasure, and full of courage, 

 but a man must make greater care, and take good 

 heed to them, for they are such busie and unruely 

 things with their beakes, as divers times they eate 

 off their own feet and tallons very unnaturally, so 

 as they die of it. And this is the reason and true 

 cause," that, seldom or never shall you see a mewed 

 or entermewed merlyn. For that in the mew they 

 do spoyle themselves, as I have before declared." 

 Sir J. Sebright says that the merlin will take black- 

 birds and thrushes, and that he may be made to 

 wait on— that is, hover near till the bird be pursued 

 and started again ; " and though a merlin will kill a 

 partridge, they are not strong enough to be effective 

 in the field." (' Observations on Hawking.') 



From its habit of sitting on a bare stone, or por- 

 tion of rock, on the mountain moorlands, this bird 

 has acquired the name of Stone Falcon, Rochier 

 and Faucon de roche of the French, and Stein- 

 falke of the Germans. The general plumage of the 

 young is brown ; when fully adult, the back and 

 v/ings are of a bluish-ash colour, each feather 

 having a central dash of black; the under parts 

 are rufous, with oblong blackish spots. Length of 

 male eleven inches, of female twelve inches and a 

 half. The female resembles the immature male in 

 having a brown plumage. The eggs, four in num- 

 ber, are reddish-brown, mottled with a deeper tint. 



1247. — The Kestrel 



(Falco Tinnunculus). This falcon, often called 

 Windhover, Stannel, and Stonegall, is very com- 

 mon in our islands, and is spread over Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa. This probably is the T&yvpis of 

 Aristotle, and the Tinnunculus of the Latins (Pliny 

 ' Nat. Hist.,' x. 37). It is the Foutivento, Canibello, 

 Tristunculo, Acertello Falchetto di Torre, Gheppio, 

 and Gavinello of the modern Italians; Cercrelle, 

 Quercerelle, Cresserelle, and Epervier des Alouettes, 

 of the French; Turmfalke, Roethel-jreyer, Mause- 

 falke, Winewachl, Rittl-weyer, and Wannen-weher 

 of the Germans ; Kyrko-falk of the Swedes ; and 

 Cudyll coch of the ancient British. 

 The kestrel is a bird of considerable powers of 



flight, but, unlike the little merlin, seldom tak';s its. 

 prey in the air ; unless, indeed, when it gives chase 

 to msects, as the cockchafer, &c, for it b chiefly 

 on mice, frogs, &c. that it feeds. Mr. Selby, in- 

 deed, says that bird-catchers have seen it making a 

 dash at "their decoy-birds, and that he has himself 

 caught it in a trap baited with a bird : and Mr. 

 Thompson ('Birds of Ireland,' 'Mag. Zool. and 

 Botan.,' vol. ii. p. 57) says, that though it is gene- 

 rally pursued by swallows, he once saw it the 

 pursuer. " On September 22, 1832, when walking 

 with a friend in the garden at Wolfhil), near Bel- 

 fast, a male kestrel in full pursuit of a swallow ap- 

 peared in sight over the hedgerow, and continuing 

 the chase with extreme ferocity, lost not the least- 

 way by the swallow's turnings, but kept within a 

 foot of it all the time, at one moment passing within 

 five or six yards of our heads. It is idle to conjec- 

 ture how long the foray may have lasted before we 

 witnessed it, but immediately on the kestrel's giving 

 up the chase, the swallow, nothing daunted, be- 

 came again, accompanied by many of its species, 

 the pursuer and tormentor, and so continued till 

 they all disappeared. The kestrel was probably 

 forced to this chase by the particular annoyance of 

 the swallows, they and the martins being more 

 numerous this day at Wolfhill than they had been 

 during the season!" It. is thus that the large white- 

 headed eagle is teased by the little king-bird or 

 tyrant, flycatcher (Tyrannus intrepidus), and even 

 forces him to retreat. The kestrel, as the same 

 writer states, has been so far trained by Mr. W. 

 Sinclaire as to attend and soar above him like the 

 peregrine falcon, and fly at small birds let oft' from 

 the hand. 



This species is often seen high in the air, with 

 outspread tail and winnowing pinions, suspended 

 over one spot ; its keen eye is surveying with care- 

 ful scrutiny the ground below — not a mouse, nor a 

 frog, nor a lark on her nest^ escapes its glance ; 

 having fixed upon its victim, down it drops, clutches 

 its prize, and flies rapidly to its usual haunt. The 

 destruction of field-mice by the kestrel ought to 

 recommend it to the farmer, especially as it attacks 

 neither pigeons nor poultry ; unfortunately it is 

 often confounded by the ignorant with the fierce 

 sparrow-hawk (indeed we have generally heard it 

 so called), which will devastate the dovecote and 

 pounce upon young chickens. 



The kestrel generally usurps the nest of a crow or 

 magpie in which to lay its eggs and rear its young. 

 It breeds also on inland and marine cliffs, church 

 towers, &c. We have many times seen it fly in 

 and out of the fissures of the perpendicular lime- 

 stone rocks of the Peak of Derbyshire, and about 

 Buxton. The eggs are four in number, pale red- 

 dish brown, mottled with a darker tint. The co- 

 louring is as follows : — 



Mate.— Top of the head bluish grey ; upper parts 

 reddish brown, regularly sprinkled with angular 

 black spots; lower parts white, slightly tinged with 

 reddish and witn oblong brown spots; tail ash- 

 coloured, with a wide black band towards its ex- 

 tremity, and terminated with white ; bill bluish ; 

 cere, space around the eyes, iris, and feet yellow. 

 Length about fourteen inches. 



Female. — Larger than the male ; all the upper 

 parts of a brighter reddish ; lower parts yellowish 

 rusty, with oblong black spot ; tail reddish, with 

 nine or ten narrow black bands, and with a large 

 band of that colour near its extremity, which is 

 terminated with reddish white. 



The Young have the top of the head, the nape, 

 and the mantle brown-rusty streaked with black ; 

 these streaks form the angle of the back; on the 

 first quills are seven reddish and whitish spots ; tail 

 reddish, undulated with grey-ash and transversely 

 striped as in the female : throat reddish white ; at 

 the opening of the bill a small black stripe which is 

 prolonged on the upper part of the neck ; the rest 

 of the lower parts whitish-rusty with oblong black 

 spots ; iris brown ; cere yellowish green. 



1248.— The Bengal Falcon 



(Hierax ccerulescens), Allap of the Javanese ; Falco 

 Bengalensis, Brisson. This beautiful little falcon is 

 generically distinguished by the edge of the upper 

 mandible being bidentate, and the tarsi scutellated 

 anteriorly. (See Fig. 1249, the Head and Foot.) It 

 is a native of Java, and also, as it is stated, of Bengai. 

 Small as it is, for it does not exceed six and a half 

 inches in length, it is nevertheless bold and active, 

 and pursues prey equal to itself in size with great 

 determination. Its general colour above is glossy 

 bluish black; forehead, throat, breast, and a line 

 continued from the bill over the eye down the sides 

 of the neck, white with a ferruginous tint. Under 

 parts ferruginous ; plumes of thighs long and silky ; 

 wings reaching only half-way down the tail. 



HAWKS. 



Beak short, hooked from the base : wings short ; 

 fourth quill-feather the longest. Though the hawks 



