34 TALKS ABOUT BIRDS 



unpick her jesses in the mews and get loose, 

 she will kill all the other hawks, not sparing 

 even her own mate. In spite of this, the gos- 

 hawk was always a very popular bird, and is 

 so still in those parts of Asia where hawking 

 is still carried on ; these are chiefly the central 

 portions, from Turkestan to China, for in 

 most parts of India very little hawking is 

 done nowadays. 



The fact is, that a hawk requires so much 

 training, and needs to be kept in such constant 

 exercise, that it is almost one man's business 

 to look after one bird, so that it is not wonder- 

 ful that in our times hawking has been mostly 

 given up for shooting. 



A few people, however, have always kept 

 up the ancient sport even in Europe, and 

 for them the wild hawks are still caught at 

 one place, Valkenswaard in Holland, where 

 this has been done for hundreds of years 

 past. The great time for it is the autumn, 

 when hawks, like the other birds they feed 

 on, are on their travels ; and they are caught 

 in a net baited with a live pigeon. The line 

 by which the net is pulled over is carried 

 to a hut where the falconer sits, and he has 



