Baited like eagles having lately bathed.”
It must, however, be conceded, according to Douce’s clear annotation (vol. i. p. 435), that “it is by no means certain that this bird (the ostrich) is meant in the present instance.” A line probably is lost from the passage, and if supplied would only the more clearly show that the falcon was intended,—“estrich,” in the old books of falconry, denoting that bird, or, rather, the goshawk. In this sense the word is used in Antony and Cleopatra (act iii. sc. 13, l. 195, vol. ix. p. 100),—
“To be furious
Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood
The dove will peck the estridge.”
Though a fabulous animal, the Unicorn has properties and qualities attributed to it which endear it to writers on Heraldry and on Emblems. These are well, it may with truth be said, finely set forth in Reusner’s Emblems (edition 1581, p. 60), where the creature is made the ensign for the motto, Faith undefiled victorious.
Victrix casta fides.
Emblema IV.
