Once he loved on the sun to gaze,
But now he shuns the dazzling blaze ;
His eye is dimmed, and a feebler light
Suits best the captive eagle's sight.
Oh! were he free, his glance would dare
The vivid lightning's fervid glare.

Break, break, the kingly eagle's chain,
And give him to the skies again.

"Twas the thought of a dastard mind,
The eagle's free-born wing to bind;
Freeman, if freedom's honoured name,
The homage of thy heart can claim,
Unclose the prisoner's grated door,
And let him far and freely soar.

Break, break, the kingly eagle's chain,
And give him to the skies again.

ORDER ACCIPITRES.

The Common, Peregrine, or Passerine Falcon. Falco communis.-GMEL. F. Peregrinus.-LINN.

THE falcons, properly so called, have been commonly distinguished as the noble birds of prey. They are thus named, because they have been trained by man to follow the chase; which it was the fashion of the time, when falconry was in use, to call a noble sport, since it was a game

confined to nobles and men of high station. "The peregrine falcon," says Cuvier, "is the celebrated species which has given its name to falconry. It inhabits all the north of the globe, and builds in the steepest rocks. Its flight is so rapid, that there is scarcely any part of the world it does not visit. It pounces on its prey vertically, as if it fell from the clouds." The male is used against magpies, and other small birds; the female against pheasants, and even hares. The female is usually one third larger than the male, which is therefore, in the language of falconry, called a tercel. This beautiful bird is rendered familiar to our thoughts, by the frequent references to it in those chronicles and tales of other times, which bring before us the picturesque sport of falconry, now an amusement rarely heard of. Time was, when princes and chieftains looked on it as the noblest of their recreations in the "piping time of peace." Gay and gallant was the train that issued forth from palace, and castle, and ancient hall-the dwellings of our fore-fathers-in pursuit of this animating amusement. Much of evil was there mingled in those festive scenes; and we do not wish to recall them to a new existence, but rather to look back on them as picturesque memorials of the past, as we dwell on other traces of the feudal

times the ruined tower, and the castle moat. There have been repeated attempts to revive the sport, but with very limited success. A few years ago, a young officer might be seen driving round the neighbourhood of Blackheath, in a fashionable tilbury, with a number of falcons perched about on the edge of his carriage and occasionally you might see him practising them in flight according to the falconer's art. But it seems to have been an ephemeral fancy, which soon passed away, and found few followers. The falcon, the jer-falcon, the kestril, merlin, hobby, and some others of the same family, were trained for this sport. They were taken early from the nest, and gradually trained to obey the voice of man; to fly at his command in pursuit of game, and return at his call. In order to render them tame and docile, they were kept in darkness by having their eyes covered with a hood, which could be removed at the pleasure of the keeper. Bands of soft supple leather were passed round their legs, to which a ring and cord were attached. By this cord they were fastened to a tether, and when taken out by the falconer, the cord was held in his hand. The leather bands were called jesses. When taken out into the fields for the purpose of hawking, every falcon rode on the hand of the falconer or his attend

see p 34

almost the whole of animated nature, the campanero still cheers the forest. You hear his toll, and then a pause for a minute; then another toll, and then a pause again; and then a toll, and again a pause. Then he is silent for six or eight minutes, and then another toll, and so on. Acteon would stop in mid chase, Maria would defer her evening song, and Orpheus himself would drop his lute, to listen to him—so sweet, so novel, and romantic, is the toll of the pretty snow-white campanero."

THE CAMPANERO, OR BELL-BIRD.

The morning light is round me spread,
And I must quit my forest bed.

A thousand strains of varied song
Are floating forth these shades among,
And seem as hymns of praise, to rise
In one full chorus to the skies.
And hark! a welcome sound I hear,
The matin-bell is chiming clear-
Ah! I hear it toll again—
It is the campanero's strain,
From the lofty mora tree,
Tolling loud and solemnly.

It stirs the pilgrim's heart to rise,
And yield his morning sacrifice
To Him who kept him thro' the night,
And brings again the morning light.

* See Waterton's Wanderings.

On the green turf I kneel and pray,
That he would bless my onward way;
That wheresoe'er my path is found,
Heaven's gracious dews may fall around.
And then the pilgrim's prayers ascend
For every dear and distant friend:
And while beneath the forest glade,
His lonely orisons are made,
The campanero solemnly

Is tolling from the mora tree.

And when the daylight dies away,

And evening brings her tempered ray,
The campanero's solemn strain
Falls on his listening ear again.

Sweet as the chime of vesper bell,
It seems of evening prayers to tell :
He thinks of friends, far, far
away,

Who for the lonely wanderer pray.
That thought has banished half his care,
He joins with theirs his fervent prayer,
And seems, amid the twilight dim,
To hear them chaunt the vesper hymn;
While from the lofty mora tree,
That forest-bell tolls solemnly.

ORDER PASSERES.

The Throstle, Thrush, or Mavis.

Turdus Musicus.-LINN.

CONFINING ourselves, as we have done, to narrow limits, it will be necessary to leave some of our sweetest song-birds unnoticed.

But we