the pride of the rich, and these birds, as well as their eggs,
were preserved by various legislative enactments. So valuable
were they considered when possessed of the various qualities
most in request, that in the reign of James I. Sir Thomas
Monson is said to have spent a thousand pounds in obtaining
two Falcons; and a variety of interesting details as to the
price of these and other Hawks, will be found in Mr. Hart-
ing’s ‘ Ornithology of Shakespeare.’ The qualities of a good
Falcon have been so aptly described by Walton in his 4 Complete
Angler,’ as addressed by Auceps to his companions,
that, illustrating the powers and habits of the bird, the passage
is here in part introduced. “ In the air my noble, generous
Falcon ascends to such a height, as the dull eyes of
beasts and fish are not able to reach t o : their bodies are too
gross for such high elevation; but from which height, I can
make her to descend by a word from my mouth, which she
both knows and obeys, to accept of meat from my hand, to
own me for her master, to go home with me, and be willing
the next day to afford me the like recreation.”
How much the former predilection for this particular sport
has now subsided, is well known, and though it will doubtless
for a long time number some votaries in these islands,
the change which the face of the country has undergone
during the last century—to say nothing of the improvement
in fire-arms, renders it futile for any hut the most sanguine
to hope that the palmy days of Falconry may he restored.
The flight of the Heron to his home, when the best opportunity
is afforded to the falconer, is nowadays rendered
uncertain and rare, through the complete drainage of wide
tracts of land, and the larger heronries are in a great measure
broken up and their inhabitants scattered. Failing the
Heron, the Rook affords the best and surest sport, but Rook-
liawking requires an open country, devoid of trees which
may shelter the quarry, and the custom of planting has now
become general, and has deprived many such a district of its
former aptitude for the pursuit of this amusement. Yet the
practice of Falconry is still far from being extinct with us,
and in certain parts of all three of the United Kingdoms it
l in li w \ i n ha.
is followed by gentlemen who are favoured by the localities
in which they live. More than this, some of these enthusiastic
sportsmen have achieved feats unknown to the falconers
of old; for instance, the training of Peregrine Falcons
reared in confinement from the nest to fly at and take Herons
“ on the passage ” from their feeding-grounds to their homes,
when in ancient days, as appears from old hooks, it was considered
a sufficiently gallant exploit if a Heron roused from
a river-bank were brought again “ to soil,” as it was termed,
by a Falcon which had been reclaimed after it had developed
and acquired full powers of flight by the enjoyment of complete
liberty. This change in the system of Falconry has
probably been due in a great measure to the employment of
Dutch falconers, mostly from the village of Falconswaerd,
or Valkenswaard, in North Brabant; but even their mode of
training has been improved by our own countrymen. This
village, says Sir John Sebright, writing in 1826, “ has for
many years furnished falconers to the rest of Rurope. I
have known many falconers in England, and in the service
of different princes on the Continent, but I never met with
one of them who was not a native of Falconswaerd.” Those
who wish to know more on this subject may with profit consult
Professor Sclilegel’s elaborate monograph, before mentioned
; it is enough to say now that falconers from this
same place still direct several of the hawking establishments
in Europe at the present day. I t must not, however, he
supposed that we are entirely devoid of native talent for
Falconry; here and there throughout the country is found
a lad or young man in whom its genius is strong, and in
particular must be mentioned a Scottish family of the name
of Barr, several members of which have evinced uncommon
skill in the art.
In the language of Falconry, the female of this species is,
exclusively, called the Falcon, and, on account of her greater
size and power, is usually flown at Herons and Rooks: the
male is called the Tiercel,* and corruptly Tassel, and is more
* This term, and its French equivalent Tiercelet, is commonly said to have its
origin from the male being, as was supposed, one-third less than the female ; but