THE GREENLAND FALCON. 
549 
as a noble art, which led to honour and riches. Falconers 
had their own phraseology, as it may be said our sports¬ 
men have now. For instance, the legs of a Falcon were 
called “ arms,” and the claws “ pounces; ” a Falcon is not 
fed, but “ dieted; ” it does not feed itself, but “ tires; ” its 
feet are tied when the “jesses” are put on; it is “ on the 
block,” when it sits on its perch with the “jesses” on; it 
“ stoops” when making a downward flight, and “ mounts” 
when rising so high as to disappear; it is “checked” 
when it meets with a plucky old Heron that it cannot 
overcome; it is “cast off” when encouraged to fly, and 
“hooded” when the hood is on; its straps are called 
short or long “jesses;” and its course of training is 
termed “manning” or “reclaiming.” 
The falconer must be well able to distinguish all 
the different Hawks, and know at what quarry each 
species is most fitted to be flown; how best to capture, 
tame, handle, and train them; he must also thoroughly 
understand how to break the dogs necessary for this 
sport, and be possessed of a keen eye and quick ear; he 
must be patient, persevering, decided, active, and perfect 
master of all his limbs. Certain schools of falconry 
did much to assist their pupils; and to this day in 
Falconwerth, an ancient and renowned school of falconry, 
there exist several people who occupy themselves with the 
catching and training of these birds. 
There were several species of Hawks and Falcons 
which were trained to fly at game of different descriptions, 
especially the following:—Peregrine, Jer Falcon, Iceland 
Falcon, Lanner, Hobby, Merlin, Goshawk, and Sparrow- 
hawk. The falconers of different countries vied with one- 
another in the training of their birds, straining every 
nerve to attain perfection; the Jer and Iceland Falcons 
