THE TERCEL-GENTLE. 
53 
By others, again, the term is supposed to have been 
derived from the French gentil , meaning neat or hand¬ 
some, because of the beauty of its form. 
There appears to be a great deal of confusion in the 
nomenclature of the hawks used in falconry. The same 
name has been applied to two distinct species, and the 
same species, in different states of plumage, has received 
two or more names. With regard to the “tercel,” as 
distinguished from the “tercel-gentle,” it would appear 
that the former name was given to the male goshawk, and 
the latter to the male peregrine ; for the peregrine being a 
long-winged hawk, and the more noble of the two, the 
word “gentle,” or “gentil,” was applied to it with that 
signification. 
In this view we are supported to some extent by quaint 
old Izaak Walton. In his “ Compleat Angler,” there is 
an animated conversation between an angler, a hunter, 
and a falconer, each of whom in turn commends hfe own 
recreation. The falconer gives a list of his hawks, and 
divides them into two classes, viz. : the long-winged and 
short-winged hawks. In enumerating each species in 
pairs, he gives first the name of the female, and then that 
of the male : among the first class we find— 
The gerfalcon and jerkin, 
The falcon and tercel-gentle, &c. 
In the second class we have— 
