[1] _I Can not make (as yet) anie iust report how manie sorts of hawkes are bred within this relame. Howbeit which of those that are vsuallie had among vs are disclosed with in this land, I thinke it more easie and losse difficult to set downe. First of all therefore that we haue the egle, common experience dooth euidentlie confirme, and diuerse of our rockes whereon they bréed, if speach did serue, could well declare the same. But the most ex|cellent aierie of all is not much from Chester, at a castell called Dinas Bren, sometime builded by Brennus, as our writers doo remember. Certes this castell is no great thing, but yet a pile sometime ve|rie strong and inaccessible for enimies, though now all ruinous as manie other are. It standeth vpon an hard rocke, in the side whereof an eagle bréedeth eue|rie yeare. This also is notable in the ouerthrow of hir nest (a thing oft attempted) that he which goeth thither must be sure of two large baskets, and so pro|uide to be let downe thereto, that he may sit in the one and be couered with the other: for otherwise the eagle would kill him, and teare the flesh from his bones with hir sharpe talons though his apparell were neuer so good. The common people call this foule an erne, but as I am ignorant whither the word eagle and erne doo shew anie difference of sexe, I meane betwéene the male and female, so we haue great store of them. And néere to the places where they bréed, the commons complaine of great harme to be doone by them in thier fields: for they are able to beare a yoong lambe or kid vnto their neasts, ther|with to féed their yoong and come againe for more. I was once of the opinion that there was a diuersitie of kind betwéene the eagle and the erne, till I percei|ued that our nation vsed the word erne in most pla|ces for the eagle. We haue also the lanner and the lanneret: the tersell and the gosehawke: the musket and the sparhawke: the tacke and the hobbie: and fi|nallie some (though verie few) marlions. And these are all the hawkes that I doo heare as yet to be bred within this Iland. Howbeit as these are not wan|ting with vs, so as they not verie plentifull: where|fore such as delite in hawking doo make their chiefe purueiance & prouision for the same out of Danske, Germanie, and the Eastcountries, from whence we haue them in great abundance, and at excessiue pri|ces, whereas at home and where they be bred they are sold for almost right naught, and vsuallie brought to the markets as chickins, pullets and pigeons are with vs, and there bought vp to be eaten (as we doo the aforesaid foules) almost of euerie man. It is said that the sparhawke preieth not vpon the foule in the morning that she taketh ouer euen, but as loth to haue double benefit by one seelie foule, dooth let it go to make some shift for it selfe. But hereof as I stand in some doubt, so this I find among the writers wor|thie the noting, that the sparhawke is enimie to yoong children, as is also the ape; but of the pecocke she is maruellouslie afraid & so appalled, that all cou|rage & stomach for a time is taken from hir vpon the sight thereof. But to proceed with the rest. Of other rauenous birds we haue also verie great plentie, as the bussard, the kite, the ringtaile, dunkite, & such as often annoie our countrie dames by spoiling of their yoong bréeds of chickens, duckes and goslings, wherevnto our verie rauens and crowes haue lear|ned also the waie: and so much are our rauens gi|uen to this kind of spoile, that some idle and curious heads of set purpose haue manned, reclaimed, and v|sed them in stéed of hawkes, when other could not be had. Some doo imagine that the rauen should be the vulture, and I was almost persuaded in times past to beleeue the same: but finding of late a description of the vulture, which better agreeth with the forme of a second kind of eagle, I fréelie surcease to be lon|ger of that opinion: for as it hath after a sort the shape, colour, and quantitie of an eagle, so are the legs and feet more hairie and rough, their sides vn|der their wings better couered with thicke downe (wherewith also their gorge or a part of their brest vn|der their throtes is armed, and not with fethers) than are the like parts of the eagle, and vnto which portrai|ture there is no member of the rauen (who is also verie blacke of colour) that can haue anie resem|blance: we haue none of them in England to my knowledge, if we haue, they go generallie vnder the name of eagle or erne. Neither haue we the pygar|gus or gripe, wherefore I haue no occasion to intreat further. I haue séene the carren crowes so cunning also by their owne industrie of late, that they haue vsed to soare ouer great riuers (as the Thames for example) & suddenlie comming downe haue caught a small fish in their féet & gone awaie withall with|out wetting of their wings. And euen at this present the aforesaid riuer is not without some of them, a thing (in my opinion) not a little to be wondered at. We haue also ospraies which bréed with vs in parks and woods, wherby the kéepers of the same doo reape in bréeding time no small commoditie: for so soone al|most as the yoong are hatched, they tie them to the but ends or ground ends of sundrie trees, where the old ones finding them, doo neuer cease to bring fish vnto them, which the keepers take & eat from them, and commonlie is such as is well fed, or not of the worst sort. It hath not béene my hap hitherto to see anie of these foules, & partlie through mine owne ne|gligence: but I heare that it hath one foot like an hawke to catch hold withall, and another resembling a goose wherewith to swim; but whether it be so or not so, I refer the further search and triall thereof vnto some other. This neuertheles is certeine that both a|liue and dead, yea euen hir verie oile is a deadlie ter|rour to such fish as come within the wind of it. There is no cause wherefore I should describe the cormo|rant amongst hawkes, of which some be blacke and manie pied chiefelie about the Ile of Elie, where they are taken for the night rauen, except I should call him a water hawke. But sith such dealing is not con|uenient, let vs now sée what may be said of our ve|nemous wormes, and how manie kinds we haue of them within our realme and countrie.