20 
VEETEBRATA. 
A HAWKING PARTY OP THE MIDDUE AGES. 
Falcon, on account of its greater strength and courage, was flown at birds of large size, as cranes, 
storks, herons, and wild geese. The Iceland Falcon had the most bold and rapid flight; it 
mounted higher and its gyrations were wider than those of the other species; its stoop upon the 
quarry is described by the old writers on falconry as in the highest degree grand, impetuous, and 
imposing. 
"In the language of falconry," says Yarrell, "the female Peregrine was exclusively called the 
Falcon, and, on account of her greater size, power, and courage, was usually floAvn at herons and 
ducts ; the male Peregrine, being smaller, sometimes one-third less than the female, was called 
the Tercel, Tiercel, and Tiercelet, and was more frequently flown at partridges, and sometimes at 
magpies. Young Peregrines of the year, on account of the red tinge of their plumage, were 
called — the female a Bed Falcon and the male a Red Tiercel — to distinguish them from the older 
birds, which were called Haggarts or Intcrmnoed HawJcsP 
The Lanner, F. lanarius, is found in Dalraatia, Hungary, and Greece, It is colored above like 
the Peregrine Falcon ; below it is white, with dark longitudinal spots. It is a rare species. For- 
merly the King of France, Louis XVI., had Lanners sent annually from Malta ; but they Avere 
brought from the more eastern countries. It exceeds the Peregrine Falcon in size, being inter- 
mediate between that and the Jerfalcon, and was anciently much esteemed for flying at the 
kite, with which the Peregrine is hardly able to contend. The name of Lanner was confined to 
the female ; the male was called a Lanneret, on account of its smaller size. Like the other species 
it builds its nest on high and almost inaccessible rocks. 
The Sacred Falcon,* F. sacer, considerably larger than the preceding, was also used in fal- 
conry. The plumage above is an ashy-brown ; below, white, with light reddish spots. It is a 
rare species, found in Southeastern Europe. 
Falconry appears to have been first practiced in the East, and it is still in vogue in Persia 
and some other Asiatic countries. Though now forgotten in Europe, it was the fashionable 
sport of the Middle Ages, a favorite with nobles, kings, and fair ladies. So elegant and showy a 
pastime, and one in the excitements of which the gentler sex could share with the rougher, failed 
not to become very prevalent, especially in France. In a very old French poem on forest sports, 
* All the preceding species belong to Cuvier's genus of Hkrofalco, a term abridged into G-yrfalcon, and signifying 
Sacred Falcon ; it is used in allusion to the reverence of the ancient Egyptians for certain birds of prey. 
