212 MAGPIE-HAWKING. 



inside their houses. A gentleman informs me, that 

 at Gottenburgh he has seen them in well-frequented 

 streets looking for food as securely as pigeons in 

 this country. They would hop quietly out of the 

 way, or fly a yard or two in order to avoid horses 

 and carts, and then settle again. More than fifty 

 have been seen at a time. This familiarity is 

 owing to the kindness with which they are treated, 

 and which it is to be regretted is not practised in 

 this country. Few things can illustrate the cun- 

 ning, and I may add sense, of the magpie, more 

 than Sir John Sebright's account of magpie- 

 hawking. 



(e Nothing/' he says, "can be more animating 

 than this sport. It is, in my opinion, far supe- 

 rior to every other kind of hawking. The ob- 

 ject of the chase is fully a match for its pursuers, 

 a requisite absolutely necessary to give an in- 

 terest to any sport of this kind ; and it has the 

 advantage of giving full employment to the com- 

 pany, which is not the case in partridge-hawking. 

 A down, or common, where low trees or thorn- 

 bushes are dispersed at the distance of from thirty 

 to fifty yards apart, is the place best calculated 

 for this diversion. When a magpie is seen at a 

 distance, a hawk is immediately to be cast off. 

 The magpie will take refuge in a bush the mo- 

 ment he sees the falcon, and will remain there 

 until the falconer arrives, with the hawk waiting 



