LINNEAN GENUS FALCO. 585 



the first ; for when they ^xtfu* footed in the even- 

 ing, that is, have struck a bird, and cannot be 

 found that night, they are apt to fly away next 

 morning before the falconer comes to the field 

 in search of them, being well acquainted with 

 the country, accustomed to shift for themselves, 

 and consequently able to live without human as- 

 sistance. On the other hand, hawks from the 

 eyrie, are said to be free from checking, and will 

 remain where they are lost for some days, or, if 

 they know the ground, will fly home to the heck 

 or place, where they have been accustomed to be 

 fed=^. 



The term Haggard, therefore, was applied to 

 every hunting hawk, without regard to its species, 

 which had been reclaimed from a state of nature 

 after it had left the eyrie. It did not apply to 

 any peculiar character in its external aspect, but 

 to the less degree of confidence which could be 

 placed in it, and its greater liability to prove 

 false or forsake its master. That this is the true 

 signification of the word, may be learned from 

 the writings of the old dramatists, who were par- 

 ticularly fond of allusions borrowed from the art 

 of falconry. For example, in Shakespeare's 

 Othello, where the Moor begins to suspect the 

 p p 3 



* Campbell's Treatise on Falcon^. 



