RABBIT-HAWKING WITH THE GOSHAWK 217 



This lesson being repeated out of doors from a 

 field-gate, or the top of a stone wall, while for 

 safety a long line is attached to the swivel, she will in 

 a few days come readily when 'called off,' and the 

 line may then be discarded. 



She may then be lured with a dead rabbit, or a 

 part of one, thrown down and drawn with a string 

 along the grass. After coming readily to this several 

 times, she is next to be ' entered ' to the live quarry. 

 For this purpose a young rabbit or two may be easily 

 procured by ferreting, and being placed under an 

 inverted flower-pot which can be pulled over from 

 a distance with a piece of string and a cross-stick 

 through the hole in the bottom, the hawk is slipped 

 at the right moment, and rarely fails to take the 

 rabbit at the first attempt. Another trial or two of 

 this kind, and she is ready to fly at a wild one. The 

 critical part of the training is now at hand, and great 

 care must be taken to avoid disappointing the hawk ; 

 that is to say, the rabbit should be well in the open, 

 and not within reach of a hedgerow or burrow into 

 which it may pop just as the hawk is about to seize 

 it. It must be remembered, says Capt. F. H. Salvin, 

 who has paid much attention to the goshawk, that 

 one great point in the successful training of all young 

 hawks is to avoid, as far as possible, disappointment 



