THE SCENE: When it comes to raising their chicks, bird of prey are believers in the School of Hard Knocks, if Archdeacon Gerald of Wales is to believed.
THE TEXT: Bird of this kind “that live by prey, throw their weak young offspring out of their nests, lest they should accustom themselves to soft living, and beat them with their wings, and compel their young chicks to fly, so that they may turn out to be such that their parents can depend on them.” When, as time goes on, their wings have got some strength, they are trained with the help of nature to prey, and are brought from their homes, and compelled by their faithless parents to remain away forever.
– The History and Topography of Ireland, Gerald of Wales, 12th Century AD
