OTTER HUNTING, FALCONRY, SHOOTING 131 



down from a height in "one fell swoop" — 'stoop' as 

 we call it in these days ; in heron-, rook-, and lark- 

 hawking, she goes up, hawk and quarry ' ringing,' till 

 they are nearly, or quite, out of sight. A stranger to the 

 sport would say, " We shall never see that bird again ! " 

 But the fact is that you could probably see it in a few 

 seconds. Well I remember, when I began falconry, 

 William Brodrick scolding me for calling a merlin " out 

 of sight." She was just disappearing in the sky, and 

 to have lost her in those days would have made me 

 melancholy for a week, so I whistled, threw up the 

 lure, and she came. 



Such is the merlin. Then we have the hobby {Falco 

 subbuteo). I only wish I could say anything complimen- 

 tary of this hawk. There is a great beauty, no doubt ; 

 but is there not an old adage, ' Handsome is that 

 handsome does ' } The hobby to look at is the very 

 perfection of a falcon ; the length of wing by which, 

 amongst other signs, a falcon is known, is longer in 

 proportion than that of any other member of the 

 family ; the general appearance is, in fact, wonderfully- 

 typical. The bird is a little larger than the merlin. 

 They are migratoi-y and difficult to procure. Surely, 

 considering their perfect form, they could fly ! They 

 ought to beat a merlin, but they don't, nor, indeed, at 

 all equal it. Lord Lilford told me that he had offered 

 a good price for one that would fly larks well, but the 

 difficulty is to get one that will fly them at all. There 



