250 TOUR IN SUTHERLANDSHIEE. 



reclaimed, and rendered, if not of actual use to us, at least 

 an object of interest and amusement. In all attempts to 

 educate them, patience and temper on the part of the teacher 

 is the first requisite. If fortunately he be endowed with 

 this important qualification, he will scarcely find any bird or 

 beast so wild or so obstinate " ut non mitescere possit." But 

 some, it must be admitted, scarcely repay the labour bestowed 

 upon them. The eagle can be tamed, but to no great extent. 

 Naturally of a greedy and craving disposition, he is not to be 

 depended upon at all times ; and though he may show a 

 certain degree of affection for his keeper, he can seldom be 

 safely approached by strangers. 



An eagle, although he may have been trained for a long 

 time and with great care for the purpose of hunting, is just 

 as likely to swoop at and kill his master's dogs, or even to 

 attack a man himself, as to fly at any game. In this he 

 differs from the falcons, that is those of the hawk tribe, who 

 are called " noble falcons," in contradistinction to those 

 termed "ignoble." The Iceland, the Greenland, the pere- 

 grine, and the merlin also, are all " noble falcons." The 

 lanner, formerly in high repute for the chase, is now so 

 seldom seen iii this country, either alive or dead, that little 

 is known as to his merits ; but the other noble hawks whom 

 I have enumerated are all of a most kindly and tractable 

 disposition, and possess that great courage which gives them 

 the full confidence in man which is necessary for their educa- 

 tion. These birds have also great aptitude to receive 

 instruction ; their habits are social, and before they have 

 been long in confinement they become perfectly contented 

 with their lot. When out in the field, a trained hawk is in 

 no way flurried or alarmed by the movement of men or dogs, 

 but sits looking, when unhooded, with calm confidence on all 

 that is going on around him ; and although his fine dark eye 

 evinces neither fear nor disquietude, not the smallest bird 

 can pass without his immediately descrying it, and intently 

 watching it until it is lost in the distance and great must 

 that distance be which conceals any bird from the falcon's 

 eye. I have often fired my gun off at a bird, with a hooded 

 hawk sitting on one arm, without his evincing the least fear 

 or uneasiness, as great a proof of his courage as need be 

 required. In fact, a hawk, like a dog, soon learns to look 

 upon her master as her best friend. 



When a well-trained hawk has pursued a bird to any dis- 



