3C4 REMINISCENCES OF A SPORTSMAN. 



far, than that she should be lowered or confined Id her 

 pitch by too much luring. Sufficient time should by all 

 means be allowed the hawk to mount well before the 

 game is sprung, for being sufficiently elevated, she will 

 be able to see all around her, and incline her to watch 

 the moving scene more attentively than if she Vv^ere 

 nearer. The partridge being flushed, the hawk will 

 stoop with surprising rapidity and seize on it, at which 

 time none of the party should press forward, except the 

 falconei", who, cautiously approaching the hawk, must 

 walk quietly round her, when, gently kneeling down with 

 his arm extended, as though in the act of feeding the 

 hawk, he should lay hold of the partridge, when by the 

 hawk's grasp on the bird he should place her on the fist. 

 This done, put on the hood, and reward the hawk with 

 the head of the quarry, and if it is not intended to fly 

 her again, she must be fed immediately. Should the 

 hawk, however, have missed her quarry, and if on the 

 contrary it should ]ia.veptit in — that is, driven to a bush 

 or hedge, and if it cannot be quickly retrieved and re- 

 flown, then in such case the hawk must not be disap- 

 pointed, particularly if it should happen to be its first 

 bird : she will most likely carry it also, i. e., from a fear 

 of having it taken away from her. When having missed 

 her quarry, if a live partridge (of which there ought to 

 be two or three in readiness when new-made hawks are 

 flown,) be thrown up, then having raked it, she must be 

 allowed to eat it also ; and having done this, in her next 

 flight strenuous exertions must be made to avoid a 

 similar disappointment. A somewhat different method 

 of partridge hawking is practised in the latter end of the 

 season, when the country is very bare, and when the 

 partridges are in general very wild, and rarely lie well 



