HAWKING. 139 



it was as eagerly and expensively pursued, and even the 

 Turks followed the example of Christendom. 



A certain Sultan, called Bajazet Ilderim, maintained 

 a corps of 7000 falconers, about the time it was so- 

 fashionable in Europe ; and to this day, in the plains of 

 Turkey, travellers may meet with parties of falconers, 

 with Hawks upon their wrists, in pursuit of hares, and a 

 particularly large kind of Lark, at which their Falcons 

 are trained to fly. 



Wild and shy as Hawks are, it will scarcely be credited, 

 that at one time, the common Glcdes or Kites were 

 numerous in London streets. This happened in the 

 time of Henry VIII., when it seems that they were at- 

 tracted by the offal of butchers' and poulterers' stalls ; 

 and as, on account of their use in removing so offensive 

 a nuisance, they were not allowed to be killed, they be- 

 came so fearless as actually to mingle with the passengers, 

 and take their prey in the very midst of the greatest 

 crowds. Few people are, indeed, aware of the numbers 

 of Hawks existing at this day in London. On and about 

 the dome of St. Paul's, they may be often seen, and 

 within a very few years, a pair, for several seasons, built 

 their nest and reared their brood in perfect safety be- 

 tween the golden dragon's winds which formed the 

 weather-cock of Bow Church, in Cheapside. They 

 might be easily distinguished by the thousands who 

 walked below, flying in and out, or circling round the 

 summit of the spire, notwithstanding the constant motion 

 and creaking noise of the weather-cock, as it turned 

 round at every change of wind. 



In consequence of the disappearance of wastes and 

 commons, by enclosures and hedges, which rendered ifc 

 no easy matter to follow the amusement without danger 

 and delay, and also, ever since the introduction of guns, 

 hawking has gradually declined, and may be now said to 

 be nearly at an end ; though within late years, some 

 attempts have been made to revive it. 



The following account is from an eye-witness of a 



