"When

proverb is as old as the time of Shakespeare, who puts it into the mouth of Hamlet. John Shaw, in his curious book, "Speculum Mundi "-The World's Looking Glass-informs us that "the heron, or hernsaw, is a large fowle that liveth about waters," and that hath a I marvellous hatred to the hawk, which hatred is duly returned. they fight above in the air," he says, "they labour both especially for this one thing, that one may ascend and be above the other. Now, if the hawk getteth the upper place, he overthroweth and vanquisheth the heron with a marvellous earnest flight." The contrary, however, was sometimes the case, for the heron received the hawk on its long, sharp bill, and so transfixed and killed her.

FOOT OF THE FALCON.

James I., in his book of advice to his eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales, after commending certain manly exercises, thus wrote:-" As for hawking, I condemn it not, but I must praise it more sparingly, because it neither resembleth the warres so neere as hunting doeth, in making a man hardie and skilfully ridden in all grounds, and is more uncertain and subject to mischances; and, which is worst of all, is there through an extreme stirrer-up of the passions." Such passions, however, it has long ceased to stir in our country. The invention of gunpowder, and the gradual improvement of fowling-pieces, and more than all, the enclosure of land, have been fatal to hawking as a frequent sport; while books and pictures, intellectual employments and amusements of various kinds, offer their advantages to the many, instead of being restricted, like falconry in former times, to the practice of the few.

The greatest falconer of modern times was one of the Lord Orfords, who died towards the close of the last century. He is said to have incurred an expense of £100 per annum for every hawk he kept, for it had its separate attendant, and was sent, like its fellows, on occasional voyages to the continent, for the preservation of its plumage and courage. The Grand Falconer was one of the most illustrious officers of the royal courts of Europe, from whom we, probably, borrowed the idea, and with us the

distinction became hereditary. In the year 1828, the Duke of St. Albans, the hereditary Grand

THE FALCON.

Falconer of England, gave a display of this practice at Redbourne, near St. Albans. The birds, eight fine falcons, were each chained to a section of a cone of wood, about fifteen inches in height, and ten inches in diameter at the base. They were unhooded, but belled, and mostly sat at the top of their posts.

Six of them were taken for the sport of the day. A dog having pointed, a hawk was unhooded and loosed; it rose, wheeling over the heads of the party, sweeping to the right and left; now ascending into the mid-air in the distance, and now obeying the hawker's call. The partridge was flushed, and flew with the wind towards the company, when the hawk suddenly crossed its line of flight, and, seizing it at a height of thirty or forty yards, bore it in his beak, screaming and bleeding, over the heads of the company, conveying it down to the belt of an adjoining plantation. The falcon was recovered. Other flights, which it is needless to describe, were not so successful, and some of the falcons flew off, and could not be recovered to the hand of the falconer. We now meet with hawking occasionally, as varying the sports which are still kept up in our country.

THE ICELAND FALCON.

BRED in the crags of the Polar rocks, this fine bird is well prepared for the fitful and furious blasts which occasionally rage in countries near the ice; and, though its neighbouring prey might seem to be scanty, yet for this it is amply compensated, as it surpasses all the falcons in its command of the air.

Though the distance from Iceland to those parts of Scotland and the isles where it is seen is about five hundred miles, this is said to be merely a morning's journey for this falcon, from which it can easily return the same evening. When in mature plumage, it is white, with bars and barb-shaped dashes of brown, which become less and less with age, though they are seldom or never lost. It is found only in the wilds, and, therefore, its habits, in a state of nature, are much less known than those of many of the tribe.

Its names are numerous, for, in different

stages of its plumage, it has been taken for as many species. It has often been called the GerFalcon, and yet there is said to be a difference in flight, and in the mode of making the stoop, between this bird and the Iceland Falcon. It is also stated that the ger-falcon is commonly obtained in Norway, where the true Iceland falcon is never met with; that the measurements of the tail and wings differ; that they require different modes of training; and that. the Iceland bird is more intractable than the ger-falcon of Norway, but of higher courage, and of more bold and rapid flight.

Sir John Richardson states that it is a constant resident in the Hudson's Bay territories, and mentions the following incident :

"In the middle of June, a pair of these, birds attacked me as I was climbing in the vicinity of their nest, which was built on a lofty precipice on the borders of Point Lake, in latitude 6510. They flew in circles, uttering loud and harsh screams, and alternately stooping with such velocity that their motion through the air produced a loud, rushing noise; they struck their claws within an inch or two of my head. I endeavoured, by keeping the barrel of my gun close to my cheek, and suddenly elevating its muzzle when they were in

THE ICELAND FALCON.*

the act of striking, to ascertain whether they had the power of instantaneously changing the direction of their rapid course, and found that they invariably rose above the obstacle with the quickness of thought, showing equal acuteness of vision and power of motion. Although their flight was much more rapid, they bore considerable resemblance to the snowy owl."

THE PEREGRINE FALCON.+

It is only to look at a male bird of this species, when in full plumage, to see, in its compact muscularity of form, and in its openness and boldness of expression, an example of perfect adaptation to swiftness of wing and a life of rapine.

The Peregrine is only met with in certain 'ocalities in England, as the cliff near Freshwater, in the

Falco Islandicus: Hanc.

VOL. IT

+ Falco peregrinus: Gmel.

104

Isle of Wight, the Devonshire and Cornish coasts, Holyhead, and Great Orme's Head. It was more common when used in falconry. On entering the Scottish frontier, it is still found; it is rarer in the lower and richer valley of the Forth or Mid-Lothian, but on rising to the Highland ranges it again prevails. In Ireland, it occurs in all suitable localities. Though it appears in America, it is of more rare occurrence than the hawks, which delight in wooded tracts, and is scarce, therefore, in the wooded parts of the fir countries. It is migratory in Louisiana, and seldom occurs in the middle and southern States, while, in some parts of America, Audubon thinks these birds may breed; and the Falls of Niagara, mentioned as one station, would quite accord with the habits of the Peregrine Falcon. It seems, also, to have been observed in Africa, and it is supposed to occur in the Alpine regions of India. The nest, composed of a considerable mass of sticks and coarse stems of grasses or ferns, is usually placed on the face of some precipitous cliff, resting on a shelve of the rock, on the tuft of vegetation, or

in a horizontal cleft. But an eyrie has been observed, placed in such a cleft, while the eggs were laid on the bare surface, among the refuse of plane-roots, the spot being rendered slightly hollow by a little working with the breast of the bird.

The variations of plumage which occur in the different ages of the peregrine has greatly confused descriptions of this species. In the first year it is generally of a light brown on the upper parts, with an ash-coloured tinge on the middle of the feathers; its head and neck are whitish, tinged with red, and numerous dark-brown spots; its throat and under parts are dirty white, with longitudinal spots of brown; its cere is of a blueish horn-colour, and its legs are yellow. It is only at the third or fourth moulting that the peregrine assumes any settled character; and, even after that time, the bird gradually becomes lighter as it advances in age.

The peregrine falcon has a peculiarity of character which is not very distinct in the young male, and is more faintly marked in the female. It consists of a broad black streak passing downward

obliquely over the cheeks from the inner angle of each eye, and giving to the bird a very singular expression of countenance. When full grown, the beak is lead-coloured, with a darker tip; the cere has a greenish tinge; the irides are yellow; the upper parts of the head and neck are of a blueish-black; the back has a lighter tinge of lead-colour, crossed by scarcely perceptible blackish bars; and the black whiskers are strongly developed. The quill-feathers of the wings and tail are of a dusky black-the latter being crossed by numerous ash-coloured bars, and yellowish-white at the tip; all the under parts are white; a series of transverse brownish bars begin on the lower part of the breast and extend to the tail; the upper part of the breast is marked by a few longitudinal streaks, but the throat is entirely free.

The flight of the peregrine is amazingly rapid. Unless disappointed in its chase of prey, it is rarely seen sailing; and even then it rises with

a broad, spiral circuit, to a sufficient height to reconnoitre a certain space below. Its search is often made with a flight resembling that of a tame pigeon, until, catching sight of an object, it redoubles its flappings, and nears the timorous quarry at every turn and back-cutting which it attempts. Arriving within a few feet of it, the peregrine protrudes its powerful legs and talons to their full stretch. Its wings are, for a moment, almost closed; the next, it seizes the prize, which, if too weighty to be instantly carried off, it forces obliquely towards the ground, sometimes a hundred yards from where it was captured, to kill or devour it on the spot.

"The peregrine," says Sir John Sebright, "seems often to strike down birds for his amusement; and I have seen one knock down and kill two rooks, who were unlucky enough to cross his flight, without taking the trouble to look at them after they fell. In the plain country, near the sea-shore, the peregrine -frequently pursues the peewits and other birds that frequent the coast. The golden plover, too, is a favourite prey, and affords the hawk a severe chase before he is caught. I have seen a pursuit of this kind last for nearly ten minutes, the plover turning and doubling, like a hare before greyhounds, at one moment darting like an arrow into the air, high above the falcon's head; at the next, sweeping round some bush or headland, but in vain. The hawk, with

MERLINS.

steady, relentless flight, without seeming to hurry herself, never gives up the chase till the poor plover, seemingly quite exhausted, slackens her pace, and is caught by the hawk's talons in mid-air, and carried off to a convenient hillock, or stone, to be quietly devoured."

THE MERLIN.*

THIS beautiful bird is one of the smallest of our falcons, but its form is perfect in symmetry, and its colours, though distributed somewhat similarly, are more brilliant and better marked. Nor does it, like that falcon, often rise above its prey, and then rush down; but it instantly gives chase closely following the victim through all its turns and windings, and is generally successful, unless cover Falco æsalon: Willoughby.

is at hand. When passing from one part of an inclosed country to another, it flies with arrow-like rapidity.

The Merlin is found in various parts of the United Kingdom, and also in America. Its nest is generally placed on a projecting rock, bank, or tuft of heath, and is usually very accessible. It is composed of a few sticks or stalks of heather, loosely and coarsely laid together, and has no lining. The eggs are from three to five in number, of a dark reddish-brown, with darker spots and blotches-the colour, form, and markings, with the variations of the different specimens, resembling those of the peregrine. The female is easily approached at first; but, if disturbed more than once, or fired at, it becomes extremely shy. Her mate is generally near at hand, perched on some rising ground or rocky height, and gives notice of the approach of any intruder by very shrill cries and rapid flight around. "The merlin," says Mr. Lloyd, "is a very bold bird, and seems afraid of nothing. I one day

winged one as he was passing over my head at a great height. The little fellow, small as he was, flung himself on his back when I went to pick him up, and gave battle most furiously, darting out his talons (which were as hard and sharp as needles) at everything that approached him. We took him home, however, and I put him into the walled garden, where he lived for more than a year. He very soon became quite tame, and came on being called to receive his food, which consisted of birds, mice, &c. So fearless was he, that he flew instantly at the largest kind of sea-gull or crow that we gave When hungry, and no other food was at hand, he would attend the gardener when digging, and swallow the large earth-worms when turned up. To my great regret, we found the little bird lying dead under the tree in which he usually roosted; and, though I examined him carefully, I could not find out the cause of his death.

"Although all these small hawks which frequent this country destroy a certain quantity of game, their principal food consists of thrushes, blackbirds, and other small birds. In the winter, when the