The Falcon. 207 
habitants call Shaheen (Falco peregrinator), and which is 
of so fierce and courageous a disposition, that it will 
attack any bird, however Jarge or powerful, which pre- 
sents itself. *« Were there not," says Dr. Eussel, in his 
Account of Aleppo, " several gentlemen now in Eng- 
land to bear witness to the fact, I should hardly venture 
to assert that, with this bird, which is about the size of a 
pigeon, the inhabitants sometimes take large eagles. This 
Hawk was in former times taught to seize the eagle 
under the pinion, and thus depriving him of the use of 
one wing, both birds fell to the ground together ; but 
the present mode is to teach the Hawk to fix on the 
back, between the wings, which has the same effect, 
only, that as the bird tumbles down more slowly, the 
falconer has more time to come to his Hawk's assistance ; 
but in either case, if he be not very expeditious, the 
falcon is inevitably destroyed. I never saw the Shaheen 
fly at eagles, that sport having been "disused before my 
time ; but I have often seen him take herons and storks. 
The Hawk, when thrown off, flies for some time in a 
horizontal line, not six feet from the ground ; then 
mounting perpendicularly, with astonishing swiftness, 
he seizes his prey under the wing, and both together 
come tumbling to the ground." 
