all falconers know how much Hawks suffer from a
lengthened period of inactivity. Our ancestors seem,
however, to have esteemed the “ Icelanders ” highly;
there are traditions of their being trained to take the
Kite, and in more recent days a few of these Falcons
were flown at Herons with success in the Netherlands.
The late Mr. E. Clough Newcome, certainly the first
amateur falconer of his day, owned several of these
Falcons, and spoke highly of the performance of one or
two of them, but on the whole did not care very much
about them, and infinitely preferred the “ passage”
Peregrine for practical purposes. The late Maharajah
Duleep Singh flew “ Icelanders ” with some success at
Hares in Suffolk, but I could not get an “ Icelander ”
of mine to look at a live rabbit, and, indeed, I hold that
this sort of work is altogether beneath the hereditary
dignity of a true Falcon. In my experience I have
found the “ Icelander” difficult to keep in health for
any length of time, even when the bird is constantly
exercised; the feet especially generally go wrong sooner
or later, and are exceedingly difficult to treat successfully.
In disposition this Falcon seems to be tameable
enough, but by no means remarkable for docility, of a
somewhat sluggish temperament, and it is by no means
so hardy as might be expected from the climatic conditions
of the country of its origin.