Note 138 — Chapter IX

The falcon and sparrow-hawk were in Egypt consecrated to Horus.—As the Nayrs, or warriors, in the time of peace, lead a very indolent life, they commonly employ themselves in hunting, to which they train falcons. It is not improbable, therefore, that the art of falconry was conveyed from India to the Saracens. The emperor Frederic II. learned it from the Saracens and his Arabian subjects in Sicily during the time of the crusades, and wrote a book on it, entitled, Ars venandi cum avibus, which was continued by his son Manfredus, and which the learned Professor Schneider published at Leipsic, in 1788 and 1789, in two parts, 4to; because the first edition, in 8vo, of Augsburg, was out of print. The most valuable part of this work are the additions and illustrations of that learned naturalist; but one cannot help being surprised that the above-mentioned emperor should have possessed so much knowledge, and even of anatomy.—It is impossible to determine to what class the Kaka and Cembòtta belong, but the Wesbambel is the large Asiatic pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus.) F.