Note 336 — NEW ENGLISH CANAAN OR NEW CANAAN. (continued 2)

Usually written tercel, and sometimes tiercel or tiërcel. The male of any hawk, so termed because he is a third smaller than the female, or, as some have thought, because it was believed that every third bird hatched was a male. The name, as used in falconry, almost always refers to the male Goshawk (Astur palumbarius), while with the addition of gentil, or gentle, it indicated the female or young of this species. The bird alluded to here is probably the American Goshawk (Astur atricapillus).