Danny Ruff, age i7, of Gastonia, N.C., for his question.
What is the gyrfalcon?
The Kublai Khan of ancient Cathay knew his gyrfalcons well. He kept these swift birds of prey to hunt gyrfalcon against wide winged crane. He watched the gory battle in the sky from his perch on an elephant, couched on cushions and shaded by a silken pavillion. This colorful event was described in detail by the roving reporter, Marco Polo.
From time to time, the gyrfalcon is seen in the skies of New England, but he comes no farther south than new York. He is an Arctic bird, and his nesting grounds are in the polar regions of America, Europe and Asia. He is a falcon of the bird order Falconiformes and a first cousin of the hawk, the eagle and the garbage¬ collecting vulture.
There are about 50 falcons of the family Falconidae, and the gyrfalcon is the biggest of them, though not quite the fastest. The speed champion is the peregrine who dives at 180 miles per hour and well may be the fastest bird. In the world. The gyrfalcon is two feet long, and as a rule his speckled plumage is a blend of pale, pearly grays. But snowy white, gray or sooty black gyrfalcons may hatch from the same brood.
He is, of course, a bird of prey, armed with a sharp, hooked beak and rapier talons. Standing straight on his sturdy legs, he glares at the world like an angry general, straining to start hostilities. The gyrfalcon's round, yellow eyes may be searching the distance for a lolloping here or a scuttling rabbit. More likely, he is scanning the skies for a moving target a fluttering pigeon or a high flying duck.
No bird in the air can outwit him, and he is bold enough to attack all but the biggest. Up he flies with swift wing beats, never pausing to soar. He often flies far above his victim, then folds his mighty wings and dives down like a speeding arrow to seize his struggling dinner in mid air. In the Middie Ages, falcons of many kinds were trained to catch birds for their masters, and the art of falconry was a sport of knights and noblemen.
The training of a fierce falcon requires skill and great patience. He is taken to the hunt blindfolded, chained to the gloved hand of his trainer. When a game bird is sighted, the hood is removed from his eyes and he is freed to bring down the victim. In the Days of Chivalry, the gyrfalcon was a great favorite, though modern falconers do not know how this Arctic bird was kept alive in the temperate Climates.