ROOK-HAWKING 109 



them ; but many birds improve upon their natural powers by 

 frequent practice. Who has not seen one rook chasing another, 

 either in sport or in a petulant humour, and the fugitive 

 evidently enjoying the fun of throwing out his persecutor? In 

 the tropics there is nothing that a crow likes better than stoop- 

 ing at kites ; and nothing that the kite takes greater pride in 

 than showing how easily he can elude the shots so made at him. 

 I have seen pigeons, when a slow or lazy peregrine is in the air, 

 deliberately hang about within reach of her for the express 

 purpose of enjoying the amusement of successfully shifting 

 when she makes a dash for them. Indeed, it will be seen in 

 Chapter XIX. that I saw this game played rather too rashly by 

 a house-pigeon with a trained ger-tiercel. It has been said that 

 the rook in full plumage is no mean flier. He has also a good 

 head on his glossy shoulders, and he shifts cleverly enough 

 while his lungs and muscles hold out. He does not often lose 

 his head, in the metaphysical sense. Sometimes, when particu- 

 larly close shots graze him, or even feather him, he is frightened 

 into wasting a little breath in an angry complaining croak. 

 But this is almost the only piece of stupidity that can be alleged 

 against him. Usually, however hard pressed, he keeps all his 

 wits about him ; and when he is beaten in the air, it is oftenest 

 from sheer want of speed and want of wind. The violent effort 

 required to escape by shifting a good stoop of a first-rate 

 peregrine takes it out of him terribly. The whiz of the falcon 

 as she rushes by is enough to make the stoutest heart quail. 

 But cowardice is not the weak point of the rook, who, for the 

 most part, has a determined and fair struggle for his life. 



Of course the stoop takes it out of the hawk also. But then 

 the hawk has two great advantages. She is the faster bird, and 

 she is better at the " throw up." This is the counter-move by 

 which she responds to the shifts of the quarry. A good long- 

 winged hawk, after an unsuccessful stoop, immediately shoots up 

 to a great height above the place where the stoop was intended 

 to take effect. She rebounds, as it were, from the rapid descent, 

 glancing upwards with wide open wings to a new position of 

 advantage. And herein she has the advantage of the grey- 

 hound. The farther the dog is thrown out, the more laborious 

 is the work of getting into position for the next attack. But a 

 falcon may come past her quarry with as much way on as ever 

 she can command. That impetus need not carry her away to a 

 disadvantageous position, but, on the contrary, to one where 

 she is still admirably placed for a fresh stoop. By throwing up 

 well and with good judgment, and sometimes a little luck, a 



