134 



THE HAWK TRIBE. 



The 



ancient writers speak of hawking as a common sport. 

 People used to go out into the marshy grounds, and beat 

 amongst the reeds and bushes for small birds which har- 

 boured there; and 

 as they flew away 

 Hawks were let 

 loose in pursuit, and 

 when the game fell 

 to the ground, 

 either through 



fright, or struck by 

 the Hawks, the men 

 ran up, and secured 

 them. Others were 

 so well taught, 

 that they not only 

 returned to their 

 owners when called, 

 but brought whatever they might have captured in their 

 flight. Some North American Indians understand the 

 art of taming these birds, and are equally fond of the 

 sport; but it has been remarked, that when the hard 

 winters set in, the birds, if not confined, take wing, and 

 are never seen again. In China, it is a favourite 

 amusement with some of the Mandarins, or great people, 

 to hawk for butterflies arid other large insects, with 

 birds trained for that particular sport. In India, the 

 Goshawk, and two other species, are taught to keep 

 hovering over the hunters' heads, and when deer or other 

 game starts up, they dart down, as has been before stated, 

 and fix their claws upon its head, and thus bewilder it, 

 till the pursuers come up. 



Near Tripoli, in Africa, on the wide plains, Bustards 

 are very common, a large bird, once plentiful in some 

 parts of England, though now, in consequence of the 

 increase of population, and enclosure of the waste tracts 

 of land, no longer to be seen; they are larger than 

 Turkeys, and though their wings are so short as to be o>f 



