And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye.”
To “check” is a term used in falconry, signifying to “fly at,” although it sometimes meant to “change the bird in pursuit.”[49] The word occurs again in the same play (Act ii. Sc. 4), and in Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 7.
THE BELLS.
Besides the “jesses,” the “bells” formed an indispensable part of a hawk’s trappings. These were of circular form, from a quarter to a full inch in diameter, and made of brass or silver, and were attached, one to each leg of the bird, by means of small slips of leather called “bewits.” The use of bells was to lead the falconer by their sound to the hawk when in a wood, or out of sight.
“As the ox hath his bow,[50] sir, the horse his curb, and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires.”—As You Like It, Act iii. Sc. 3.
So in Henry VI. Part III. Act i. Sc. 1—
“Nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,