140 HAWKING. 



day's hawking, which occurred in June, 1825, in Norfolk, 

 in the flat fen-country, near a heronry. The party 

 assembled in the afternoon, the wind blowing towards the 

 heronry. There were four couple of Hawks, all females, 

 of the breed known by the name of the Peregrine Falcon, 

 one of the most esteemed of the British Hawks in the 

 ancient days of falconry. They were carried by a man 

 to the ground, upon an oblong kind of frame, padded 

 with leather, on which the birds perched, and to which 

 they were fastened by a thong of leather. Each bird 

 had a small bell on one leg, and a leather hood, with an 

 oblong piece of scarlet cloth stitched into it over each 

 eye ; on the top of this hood was a small plume of vari- 

 ous-coloured feathers. The man walked in the centre 

 of the frame, with a strap from each side, over each 

 shoulder ; and when he arrived at the spot fixed upon 

 for the sport, he set down the frame upon its legs, and 

 took off all the Falcons and tethered them to the ground 

 in a convenient shady place. 



There were four foreigners, probably from Falcons- 

 ward, a village in North Brabant, much famed for its 

 Falcons, under whose particular care the birds were 

 placed, each having a bag, somewhat like a woman's 

 pocket, tied to his waist, containing a live Pigeon, called 

 a lure, to which was fastened a long string. 



After waiting awhile, some Herons passed, but at too 

 great a distance ; at length, one appeared to be coming 

 within reach, and preparations were made to attack him. 

 Each falconer wore a brown leather glove on his right 

 hand, to prevent the Hawks' talons from scratching the 

 wrist ; and there was a small bit of leather attached to 

 the leg of the bird, held by the falconer between the 

 thumb and the finger. Each of the men being now 

 ready, with a Falcon on his fist, and the bag with the 

 lure tied to the waist, and mounted on horseback, pro- 

 ceeded slowly in the direction from whence the Heron 

 was flying ; and as soon as the Heron was nearly oppo- 

 site, though at a very considerable height in the air, they 



