Falcon (26 page)

1939

ddt
invented

1940

Freelance adventurer and troubleshooter ‘The Gay Falcon’ created by writer Michael Arlen.

Played by George Sanders he achieves cinematic fame

1960

The first Ford Falcon rolls off the production line

ad 440

Atilla conducts military campaigns with the
Turul
as his emblem

800

Falconry practised in Britain

900

The Laws of Wales codified by King Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good) dictate that after a good day’s hawking, the king is obliged to stand to receive the lord falconer as he enters the hall

1173

Henry
ii
of England sends annually for young peregrines from the sea cliffs of Pembrokeshire

1208

King John restricts falconry exclusively to the Crown

1650

Russian gyfalcon-catch- ing cartels are granted immunity from all local taxes and duties, and have the right to receive money for food and transport wherever they travel. The falcons are transported to Moscow in a train of closed sleighs lined on the inside with felt and with mats of braided linden bark

1686

The Duke of St Albans becomes Hereditary Grand Falconer of England at a salary of

£
1
,
500
per year

1718

Giles Jacob explains that ‘by reason of the trouble and expense’, falconry is ‘in great measure disused, espe- cially since sportsmen are arriv’d to such a perfection in shooting’

1762

Denmark imports a vast number of gyr- falcons to be sent as diplomatic presents to European states. The falcons eat
50
oxen and
20
sheep on the two- week journey from Iceland to Copenhagen

1771

Fast-living gentleman Colonel Thornton resurrects falconry in Britain

1964

Eastern
anatum
pere- grine in
us
becomes extinct; North American Falconers Association formed

1974

First releases of cap- tive-bred progeny from the Peregrine Fund. On
2
February first flight of the F-
16
Fighting Falcon jet from the US Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California

1999

Peregrine falcon delisted from the
us
Endangered Species Act

2000

Peregrines breed on Battersea Power Station in London

2001

Massive die-off of saker falcons in Mongolia through poisoning from rodenticide-treated grain

References‌

introduction

1. W. Kenneth Richmond,
   British Birds of Prey
   (London,
   1959
   ), p. ix.
   
2. Stephen Bodio,
   A Rage for Falcons
   (Boulder,
   co
   ,
   1984
   ), p.
   9
   .
   

1. natural history
   
   1. W. Kenneth Richmond,
      British Birds of Prey
      (London,
      1959
      ), p.
      50
      .
      
   2. Quoted in J. G. Cummins,
      The Hound and the Hawk
      :
      The Art of Medieval Hunting
      (London,
      1988
      ), p.
      190
      .
      
   3. Edmund Bert,
      An Approved Treatise of Hawkes and Hawking
      (London,
      

      1619
      ), p.
      19
      .
      

2. mythical falcons
   

1. Rosalie Edge, ‘The Falcon in the Park’,
   American Falconer
   (July
   1942
   ), pp.
   7
   –
   8
   .
   
2. Charles Q. Turner, ‘The Revival of Falconry’,
   Outing
   (February
   1898
   ), p.
   473
   .
   
3. Fable
   164
   from Thomas Blage,
   A schole of wise Conceytes
   (London,
   1569
   ), pp.
   180
   –
   81
   .
   
4. Juliana Berners,
   The Book of Haukyng hunting and fysshyng
   [Book of St Albans] (London,
   1566
   ) [Eiv v–r].
   
5. Quoted in J. G. Cummins,
   The Hound and the Hawk
   :
   The Art of Medieval Hunting
   (London,
   1988
   ), p.
   190
   .
   
6. Richard Meinertzhagen,
   Pirates and Predators: The Piratical and Predatory Habits of Birds
   (Edinburgh,
   1959
   ), p.
   16
   .
   
7. Meinertzhagen,
   Pirates and Predators
   , p.
   25
   .
   
8. Meinertzhagen,
   Pirates and Predators
   , p.
   23
   .
   
9. History overview: http://www.atlantafalcons.com/history/
   001
   /
   051
   /.
   
10. Dave Barry, ‘Sex-craving Falcons Can Teach Politicians about the Hat Trick’,
    Gazette Telegraph, Colorado Springs
    (
    14
    July
    1990
    ), p.
    d3
    .
    
11. John Loft,
    D’Arcussia’s Falconry
    (Louth,
    2003
    ), p.
    261
    .
    
12. Eugene Potapov, ‘The Saker Falcon’, unpublished manuscript, Chapter
    1
    .
    13
    Loft,
    D’Arcussia’s Falconry
    , p.
    144
    .