FAKIRS (f[.a]-k[=e]rz'; literally 'poor men'), a kind of fanatic met with chiefly in India and the neighbouring countries, who retire from the world and give themselves up to contemplation. They are properly of the Mohammedan religion, but the term is often used for a mendicant of any faith. They are found both living in communities and solitary. The wandering fakirs gain the veneration of the lower classes by absurd penances and self-mutilations.
FALAISE (f[.a]-l[=a]z), a town, France, department of Calvados, picturesquely situated on a rocky precipice (Fr. _falaise_) 23 miles S.S.E. of Caen. It contains several objects of interest, among others the ruined castle of the Dukes of Normandy, where William the Conqueror was born. Pop. 6850.
FALASHAS, inhabitants of Amhara, in Abyssinia, who claim descent from Jewish emigrants during the reign of Jereboam. See _Abyssinia_.
FALCKENSTEIN, Edward Vogel von, a Prussian general, born in 1797, died in 1885. In 1813 he entered the Prussian army, distinguishing himself at the battles of Katzbach and Montmirail. In 1848 he served in the Holstein campaign, and he acted as colonel and chief of staff in the war with Denmark in 1864. In the war of 1866 he commanded the Seventh Army Corps. On the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870 he was appointed military governor of the maritime provinces.
[Illustration: Greenland Falcon (_Falco candicans_)]
FALCON (f[a:]´kn), a name of various birds of prey, members of the family Falconidæ. The falcons proper (genus Falco), for strength, symmetry, and powers of flight are the most perfectly developed of the feathered race. They are distinguished by having the beak curved from the base, hooked at the point, the upper mandible with a notch or tooth on its cutting edge on either side, wings long and powerful, the second feather rather the longest, legs short and strong. The largest European falcons are the jerfalcon or gyrfalcon proper (_Falco gyrfalco_), a native of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the Iceland falcon (_F. islandus_); to which may be also added the Greenland falcon (_F. candicans_). Between these three species much confusion at one time prevailed, but they are now distinctly defined and described. These three Arctic falcons are often referred to the special genus Hierofalco. In the Greenland falcon the prevailing colour at all ages is white, in the Iceland falcon dark. The latter more nearly resembles the true gyrfalcon of Norway, which, however, is generally darker, rather smaller, but with a longer tail. The average length of any of these falcons is about 2 feet. The Greenland species used to be the most highly prized by falconers. Its food consists chiefly of ptarmigans, hares, and water-fowl. It is found over a wide range of northern territory. The peregrine falcon (_F. peregr[=i]nus_) is not so large as the jerfalcon, but more graceful in shape. It chiefly inhabits wild districts, and nestles among rocks. It preys on grouse, partridges, ptarmigans, pigeons, rabbits, &c. Its flight is exceedingly swift, said to be as much as 150 miles an hour. The peregrine falcon was one of those most frequently used in falconry. Other British falcons are the hobby (_Hypotriorchis subbuteo_), formerly a great favourite for the chase of small game when falconry was in fashion; the merlin or stone-falcon (_Æsalon regulus_), small but swift and spirited; the kestrel or wind-hover (_Tinnunculus alaudarius_), one of the most common British falcons. The term falcon is by sportsmen restricted to the female, the male, which is smaller and less courageous, being called _tiercel_, _tersel_, _tercelet_, or _falconet_. See _Falconry_.