109 
History of Falconry. 
Although by some of our readers it may 
be thought that a detailed account of Falcon- 
ry does not constitute a necessary part of the 
Natural History of Birds, yet it appears to 
be so closely connected with it, and has been 
60 often mentioned in the foregoing remarks 
on the Genus Falco, that we hope to be ex- 
cused for introducing a short sketch of its his- 
tory, and of the methods made use of by fal- 
coners to train up the Falcon to obedience, in 
order to shew how far man has been enabled, 
by harsh or kind treatment, to render these 
birds (apparently the most wild and un tract- 
able of the feathered race) subservient to Ids 
pleasures. 
Numberless treatises have been written up- 
on this subject, which are now almost for- 
gotten ; and indeed were they to he more easi- 
ly met with, to a modern reader they would 
scarcely be intelligible. The language of 
