All three species are cowardly and mean-spirited. A good T̤arlān, trained to large quarry, will generally take them.[140]
Should the fork-tailed kite[141] see a sparrow-hawk or merlin with a bird in its feet, it will fuss round it, doing its utmost to steal it from the lucky possessor. If unsuccessful, it returns to its quest of mice and garbage.
These above-described species are related to the eagles. Under this head, too, I have even included the Carrion Vulture[142] and the Scavenger Vulture.[143]
FOOTNOTES:
[134] Chīlāq T. The kite is rare in Persia. It is, however, fairly common near Bushire.
[135] ʿAmūd Ar., “a prop, a pillar.”
[136] Turk. This word properly includes Turks, Tartars, and all who claim their descent from Turk the son of Japhet. A large proportion of the population of Persia is Turkish.
[137] Qāpāq, the “deck-feathers” of old English falconers. According to the Boke of St. Albans the centre or uppermost tail-feather was called the beme feder of the tayle, the flight-feathers being called the beme federes of the wyng.
[138] Sāq, properly the shin or shank of a man, animal, or bird. Elsewhere the author, with one other exception, uses the word qalam, “a pen, etc.,” for “tarsus.”
[139] The Kites have short tarsi, the Harriers, long. In the adult Harriers the iris is yellow, but in the immature birds, of several species at any rate, the iris is brown. The iris of the common Pariah Kite (Milvus govinda) is brown, while that of the “Common Kite” of England (M. regalis) is said to be yellow.