HA WK1NG. 



23 



pursued on horseback. In woods and covers, however, or 

 where horses could not easily follow, the sportsmen were 

 furnished with long stout poles for leaping over ditches, 

 which we learn from a story told of King Henry VIII., who, 

 one day, when pursuing his Hawk at Hitchin, in Hertford- 

 shire, attempted, with the assistance of his pole, to jump over 

 a wide ditch full of muddy water, but the pole unfortunately 

 breaking, the king fell head over ears into the thick mud, 

 where he might have been suffocated had not one of his 

 attendants, seeing the accident, leaped into the ditch after 

 his royal master, and pulled him out. 



Xo pains were spared in breaking-in the Hawks, as much 

 of their value depended on their docility, derived from good 

 and careful training. The young birds, when taken out of the 

 nest, or sometimes caught by traps, as soon as they began to 

 fly, were put into linen bags, with openings for the head and 

 tail, that they might be brought home without injury. A 

 hood or cap was then placed over its eyes, and for a day or 

 two the bird was left to itself. After 

 which it was placed quietly on the fist, 

 carried up and down the whole day, and 

 gently stroked with a feather. Having 

 been, in some degree, tamed by this 

 treatment, and accustomed to handling, 

 the hood was taken on and off quickly, 

 till it was willing to feed. Meat was Hood, 



then offered, and the hood removed, the falconer making a 

 particular call at the same time, which was invariably used 

 whenever it was fed, but on no other occasion, that it might 

 become acquainted with the voice of its feeder. It was then 

 taught to alight upon the fist from a perch, being still hood- 

 winked, and receive its food ; this was called luring the Hawk. 

 When it was so far tamed as to come readily when called, 

 it was allowed to remain unhooded, and then put to the lure, 

 an artificial bird, made of feathers and leather, thrown up into 

 the air. To this a live Pigeon or dead Chicken was fastened, 

 part of which it was permitted to seize and eat ; during this 



