Falcinellus (falsinelus)

[NL., a falcon: see falcon.] A genus of diurnal birds of prey. It was formerly conterminous with the family Falconidæ, but is now usually restricted to species which have the beak toothed, 2124 the nasal tubercle centric, the wings long, strong, and pointed, the tail moderate and stiff, and a special construction of the shoulder-joint. It includes the falcons proper, such as the peregrines, sakers, lanners, juggers, gerfalcons, merlins, hobbies, and kestrels. See falcon. falcon (fa'kn or fal'kon), n. [The present spelling is an alteration, to bring the form near the L.; early mod. E. faucon, faulcon, etc.; belonging to the restricted genus Falco, of which the peregrine is the type. These birds rise above the quarry and stoop to it by dashing down from on high; they are most highly esteemed for hawking, and called noble. (b) Hawks of the genus Astur, as the goshawk or falcon-gentle, which are quite differently shaped as to proportions of the wings, tail, and feet, and have consequently a different mode of flight. They capture the quarry by direct chase after it, and are called ignoble a term somewhat loosely extended to other birds of prey which cannot be trained to the chase at all. In heraldry the falcon is generally represented with bells on the legs, but it is nece ary to mention in the blazon the bells and their tincture. It is always supposed to be close unle the attitude is mentioned in the blazon. Where the falcon is described as je ed and belled, the je es are represented as hanging loose. Ferre owtt in yone mountane graye, Thomas, my fawkon byggis a neste;- A fawcoun is an eglis praye; Forthi in na place may he reste. Thomas of Er eldoune (Child's Ballads, I. 108). A king of the Mercians requested the same Winifred to send to him two falcons that had been trained to kill Strutt , Sports and Pastimes, p. 83. cranes. I see Lombards pouring down from the mountain gates with falcons on their thumbs, ready to pounce on the purple columbæ. D. G. Mitchell, Wet Days. 2. In ornith.: (a) One of the Falconida. (b) One of the Falcon in a. (c) Specifically, a bird of the genus Falco. The species are numerous, and are found in nearly all parts of the world. One of the best-known and most nearly cosmopolitan is the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrin us, which has many varieties or subspecies, as the duck-hawk of North America, F. peregri nus, var. anatum. (See cut under duck - hawk.) The ger Gerfalcon ( Falco gyrfalco ). falcons are a race of boreal falcons, of large size and usu- ally of more or le white or light coloration. Most of the falcons have special English names, as saker , jugger , merlin, hobby , etc. See the phrases below. 3. In falconry , a female falcon, as distinguished from the male, which is about a third smaller, and is known as a tercel , tiercel , or tiercelet . See haggard . For ther nas [was not] neuer yet no man on lyve - If that I coude a faucon wel discryve - That herde of swich another of fairne e, As wel of plumage as of gen till e e Of shap. Latham, 1787. - Blue falcon, the peregrine, Falco peregrin us: so called from the dark-bluish color of the upper parts of the adult. - Ceylonese crested falcon, Spizaë tus cirrhatus, a crested hawk of Ceylon and parts of India. -Chanting-falcon, an African hawk, Melierax can or us, said to utter musical notes. See singing -hawk. Latham, 1802.- Cheela falcon, a very large hawk of the Him a lay as, Spilornis cheela. Latham, 1787. See cheela2. — Chicquera falcon, the common Indian Falco chicquera, a small falcon from 11 to 13 inches long, with a chestnut head and neck. Also called fasciated falcon. - Cohy falcon, a falcopern, Baza lophotes, of India, Ceylon, and Malacca. Criard falcon, a kite of the genus Elanus (which see), E. cærule us, of a bluish-gray color above, about 13 inches long, with ashy-white tail, inhabiting Africa and warm parts of Europe and Asia. - Dubious falcon, the common sharp-shinned hawk of the United States, Accipiter fusc us: an old book-name. Pennant, 1785.Dusky falcon, an old book-name of the common American pigeon-hawk, Falco (Hypo tri orchis) columbarius. Pennant, 1785.- Eleonora falcon, Falco ( Erythropus ) eleonora, one of the smaller falcons, inhabiting the Mediterranean region. - Fair falcon, Astur novæ- holland iæ, an Australian goshawk, from 16 to 20 inches long, and, when adult, snow-white, with yellow cere and feet, black bill, and carmine eyes. Also called New Holland white eagle. La tham, 1801.-Fasciated falcon. Same as chicquera fal con. Latham, 1801. -Femoral falcon, a small true falcon, Falco fusco - cærules cens or F. femoral is, found from the Mexican borders of the United States southward through much of South America. It is from 134 to 15 inches long, and has the femoral region conspicuously colored. Also called plumbeous falcon and Aplomado falcon. - Finch falcon, one of the very small Oriental falcons of the genus Microhierax, not larger than a finch or sparrow. - Gentil or gentle falcon. Same as falcon - gentle. - Great northern falcons, the several species or varieties of gerfalcons constituting the genus or subgenus Hierofalco. - Green land falcon, the whitest of the gerfalcons, Falco ( Hierofalco ) candicans.-Iceland falcon, a kind of gerfalcon, Falco ( Hierofalco ) islandicus, chiefly found in Iceland, where its peculiarities become best developed. More fully called spotted Iceland falcon. Ingrian falcon. Same as red footed falcon. Latham, 1781. — Kite-falcon, a falcopern (which see); a bird of the genus Baza or of Avicida. Labrador falcon, a very dark-colored, almost blackish, variety of gerfalcon found in Labrador, and named Falco labrador i us by Audubon. - Lanner falcon, See lanner. Leverian falcon, the young of the common red-tailed buzzard of the United States, Buteo borealis: so named by Pennant in 1785 from a specimen Leverian Museum. Lattest in the IMG:content-1046.jpg:[ocr errors] mon American sparrow-hawk, Falco ( Tinnunculus ) spar verius. See sparrow - hawk. - Lugger or luggur falcon. Same as jugger.- Lunated falcon, Falco lunulatus, a small true falcon of Australia, from 11 to 13 inches long. Latham, 1801.- Madagascar falcon, Polyboroides radia tus, a large silver-gray hawk with bare lores, peculiar to Madagascar.-New-Zealand falcon, Harpa or Hieraci dea novæ-zealand iæ. Latham, 1781. - Notched falcon, a South American falcon, Harpagus bident at us, with doubly toothed bill and crestle head. Latham, 1787.- Order of the White Falcon, an order founded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar in 1732, and renewed in 1815. It is still in existence, and consists of three cla es, numbering, exclusive of the family of the reigning grand duke, 12 grand cro es, 25 commanders, and 50 knights. The badge is an 8-pointed cro in green enamel, having between each two arms a point in red enamel, and borne upon the whole, in relief, a falcon in white enamel. On the reverse are the words "L'ordre de la Vigilance " and a trophy or other emblem, which differs for the civil and the military knight; also the motto " Vigil an do ascend i mus." The ribbon is dark-red or ponceau. Also called Order of Vigilance. Peregrine falcon. See peregrine, n. - Placentia falcon. Same as St. John's falcon: so called from the large dark spot on the belly. - Plumbeous falcon, (a) A South American hawk, Asturina nitid a. Latham, 1787. (b) Same as femoral falcon. - Prairie-falcon, Falco mexica nus or F. polyagrus, a large true falcon common on the prairies of the Western States and Territories from British America into Mexico, representing in America the group of lanners of the old world. It is about as large as the duck-hawk or peregrine, but much lighter and grayer in color, and with the under parts longitudinally streaked at all ages. Radiated falcon, an Australian hawk, Urospizias radiatus. Latham, 1801. Red-footed falcon, Falco ( Tinnunculus ) vesper tin us or rufipes, a small true falcon with red legs, related to the sparrow-hawk of the United States, found in Europe, occasionally in Great Britain, and in many parts of Asia and Africa. Also called Ingrian falcon. - Red-shouldered falcon, the adult red-shouldered buzzard, Buteo line at us. Pennant, 1785.Rock-falcon. Same as stone - falcon. - Rufous-headed falcon, a South American hawk, Heterospizias meridio nalis. Latham, 1787.- St. Domingo falcon, a West In Chaucer, Squire's Tale, 1. 416. dian variety of the common sparrow-hawk of the United IMG:content-1047.jpg:[graphic] A falcon, tow'ring in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd. Shak., Macbeth, ii. 4. 4. A kind of cannon in use in the sixteenth century. It is said to have had a bore of two and a half inches and to have carried a shot of two pounds weight. The French regulations of Henry II. fix the weight of the shot at one pound one ounce poids du roi (not quite one and a quarter pounds English). The port of Mecca, neere vnto which are 6 or 7 Turks upon the old towers for guard thereof with foure faulcons vpon one of the corners of the city to the land-ward. Hakluyt's Voyages , II. 211. Aplomado falcon. Same as femoral falcon. - Axillary falcon, Australian kite of the genus Elanus, E. axil laris, having the axillary feathers or lining of the wings white and black. Latham, 1801. - Barbary falcon, Fal co barbarus, a true falcon of small size, about 134 inches long, inhabiting parts of Africa and Asia. Originally mi pelled barberry. Albin, 1740.- Behree falcon, one of many names of the common peregrine, Falco peregrin us. Latham, 1787. - Bengal falcon, one of the tiny finch-falcons, Microhierax cærules cens, of India. - Black-necked States, sometimes called Falco or Tinnunculus or Cerch neis do mini cens is. Latham, 1781. - St. John's falcon, a blackish variety of the rough-legged buzzard, Arch i buteo lagopus, var. sancti - johannis: so called from a locality in Newfoundland. Latham, 1781. Also called placentia falcon. Stone-falcon, the merlin, Fal co æsalon. Also called rock - fal con, and formerly Falco lithofal co.- Streaked falcon, a South American hawk, Urubitinga melanops. Latham, 1787.Tawny-headed falcon, the African Falco ruficollis, probably only a variety of the chicquera falcon: Winter falcon, shouldered buzzard of the Unit ed States, Buteo line at us. Pen nant, 1785.- Zuggun falcon, Oriental hawk, Butastur tees a. Latham, 1821. See tees a. an falcon-bill (fa'kn-bil), n. Falcon-bill of about 1450. (From Viollet-le-Duc's "Dict. falcon, a South American hawk, Busarellus nigricollis. A form of martel-de-fer, du Mobilier français.") distinguished by its slightly curved and sharp point.