GOSHAWKS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE LATE MR. HOY. 603 



and add cold water. The extraction of the animal is the next 

 step, and for this purpose a pin or needle (for the smaller 

 species) is to be introduced into the shell, and the animal 

 taken out. The shell must then be well washed with water ; 

 if it be of a delicate texture, a camels' hair pencil may be 

 used with much advantage to clear away any small particles 

 of dirt that may adhere to the interior. The shell being 

 cleaned and the species ascertained, the preparation employed 

 for fixing them to the card, is a mixture of gum, sugar, and 

 starch, which has been found to answer the purpose better 

 than plain gum, as being more tenacious. — Daniel Cooper, 

 Surgeon, A.L.S., Curator B.S.L., fyc. — 82, Blackfriars Road, 

 London, Oct. 16, 1839. 



Notice of some Goshawks in the possession of the late 

 Mr. Hoy. — In the early part of the month of September last, 

 Mr. Hoy visited London on his way to his residence at Stoke 

 Nayland, in Suffolk ; he had been on the continent in order 

 to obtain some goshawks, for the purpose of hawking, to 

 which sport he was much attached ; and, 1 believe few per- 

 sons better understood the nature, habits, and the modes of 

 training and using birds of prey, than himself. He mentioned 

 to me long since, that he kept several hobbies ( Falco sub- 

 buteo) about his residence, giving them their full liberty the 

 whole summer, and allowing them to range about the country 

 as they pleased, but always using them to come to him every 

 day at three o'clock to be fed ; at which time he would walk 

 into a field adjoining the house, and, by whistling or waving 

 a glove in the air, although the birds were not before visible, 

 they might be seen coming towards him with great rapidity, 

 and alight one after another upon his arm to take their meal, 

 after which they would fly off, and perhaps not be seen until 

 the following day. Sometimes at a distance of three or four 

 miles from the house, he has seen one or more of them, and 

 by making the usual sign, they would alight upon his hand ; 

 but it was necessary to confine them before the season of mi- 

 gration, or they would leave and not return, after they had be- 

 come wild — as was proved by trying the experiment. Du- 

 ring the short stay Mr. Hoy made in September last, I called 

 upon him for the purpose of seeing the goshawks : there were 

 four of them, three males and one female, — the female, a bird 

 of the year, was the largest and most powerful bird of the 

 species I ever saw ; Mr. Hoy told me she could secure with 

 ease a full-grown hare. 



With regard to using these birds, Mr. Hoy informed me that 

 their habits, mode of flight, &c, were much better suited to an 

 enclosed district like Stoke Nayland, than those of the peregrine 



