Falcon, faw'k'n, a large family of birds of prey, including the eagle and the hawk. The falcon of history--the bird chiefly employed in hawking or falconry--is the peregrine falcon, a bold, long-winged, swift game hawk, found on both continents. In America it is called usually the duck hawk. The male is about sixteen inches in length; the female, nineteen; upper parts dark bluish slate color; under parts cream-buff, barred and spotted with black except on the breast. The female falcon, as is true of the family in general, is larger than her mate. The falcon nests on rocky cliffs or in hollow limbs of tall trees. Before the day of gunpowder falcons were trained to take game. The young falcon, the female preferred for its greater strength and fierceness, was brought from the nest on a cliff and taught by hunger to submit to handling and to fly at a lure for its food. The lure was a bunch of feathers surrounding a bit of wood on which a piece of meat might be fixed. The lure was whirled about the falconer's head by a thong. When fully trained the hawk was taken afield, blinded by a leathern hood, which was removed and the falcon set free when a game bird, particularly a heron, was espied. Usually a cast, or pair of hawks, were sent in pursuit. They aimed to rise above the heron and "strike" swiftly on the descent. First one hawk would strike, then the other, by which time the first would have risen again, so that the game could hardly hope to evade both for any length of time. Immediately after bringing down the game the falcons were urged by a familiar whistle to fly to their lures for food, when they were secured by a short thong hanging from the leg. As a further precaution against escape the falcon wore a bell strapped to one leg. Falconry reached its greatest height in England after the Norman conquest. It was regarded as a royal sport. None of lower rank than an earl might ride in procession with a hawk resting on the wrist. King Harold is represented in the Bayeux tapestry with a hawk on hand. The Arabs of North Africa are said to employ the falcon to this day in hunting the bustard. See HAWK; EAGLE.