AT ONE time, the type of falcon an Englishman was allowed to own marked his rank.
A king, the gyrfalcon; an earl, the peregrine; a yeoman, the goshawk; a priest, the sparrowhawk; and a servant the kestrel. Notable falconers and enthusiasts include Frederick the Second (who wrote what some consider the first book of ornithology), William Shakespeare, Marco Polo, and Ghengis Khan.
