[331] The male of Falco lanarius, a Falcon found in the southern and south-eastern parts of Europe, as well as in Western Asia and the adjoining portions of Africa. An American variety, the Prairie Falcon (Falco lanarius polyagrus), has a wide range in the West, but is not known to have occurred to the eastward of Illinois. The bird referred to by Morton is doubtless the Duck Hawk (Falco peregrinus), an allied species not uncommon in New England.
[332] In the records of the Council for New England, under date of the 26th of November, 1635, or about the time that Morton was writing the New Canaan, is the following entry: “The Hawks brought over by Capt. Smart are to be presented to his Majesty on Saturday next, by the Lords of those Provinces. And the said Captain to be recommended to his Majestys service upon occasion of employments for his care and industry used to bring them over, and for other his services done in those parts.”
[333] The Cockchafer.
[334] I. e., like the Buzzard-Hawks of the genus Buteo, a sluggish tribe of Raptores.
[335] Properly of general application to the genus Falco; if used specifically here there is no clew to its precise meaning.
[336] Usually written tercel, and sometimes tiercel or tiërcel. The male of any hawk, so termed because he is a third smaller than the female, or, as some have thought, because it was believed that every third bird hatched was a male. The name, as used in falconry, almost always refers to the male Goshawk (Astur palumbarius), while with the addition of gentil, or gentle, it indicated the female or young of this species. The bird alluded to here is probably the American Goshawk (Astur atricapillus).
[337] The American Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius), a small and richly colored Falcon, would be likely to be used for such a purpose.
[338] If not applied to the male Goshawk (see note on “tassel gentles”), perhaps referring to Hawks of the genus Buteo, represented in New England by three species, Buteo borealis, B. lineatus and B. Pennsylvanicus.
[339] If Morton always uses tassel in its commonly accepted sense (see preceding notes), another application must be sought for the present name. The accompanying text may relate to the Marsh Hawk (Circus cyaneus Hudsonius), the adult male of which is our whitest New England Hawk, and the young or female perhaps the reddest. The Marsh Hawk does not prey on full-grown poultry, but it may have been credited with depredations committed by other species, a piece of injustice by no means uncommon at the present day.
[340] The Pigeon Hawk (Falco columbarius) is the New England representative of the European Merlin (Falco regulus).