THE FALCON KIND. 75 



By this method of instruction, a hawk may be taught to fly at an 

 game whatsoever ; but falconers have chiefly confined their pursuit 

 only to such animals as yield them profit by the capture, or pleasure it 

 the pursuit. The hare, the partridge, and the quail, repay the trouble 

 of taking them ; but the most delightful sport is the falcon's pursuit ol 

 he heron, the kite, or the wood-lark. Instead of flying directly for- 

 ward, as some other birds do, these, when they see themselves threat- 

 ened by the approach of the hawk, immediately take to the skies. 

 They fly almost perpendicularly upward, while their ardent pursuer 

 Keeps pace with their flight, and tries to rise above them. Thus both 

 diminish by degrees from the gazing spectator below, till they are quite 

 lost in the clouds ; but they are soon seen descending, struggling to- 

 gether, and using every effort on both sides ; the one of rapacious in- 

 sult, the other of desperate defence. The unequal combat is soon at 

 an end ; the falcon comes off victorious, and the other killed, or dis- 

 abled, is made a prey either to the bird or the sportsman. 



As for other birds, they are not so much pursued, as they general- 

 ly fly straight forward, by which the sportsman loses sight of the chase, 

 and what is still worse, runs a chance of losing his falcon also. The 

 pursuit of the lark by a couple of merlins is considered, to him only 

 who regards the sagacity of the chase, as one of the most delightful 

 spectacles this exercise can afford. The amusement is to see one of 

 the merlins climbing to get the ascendant of the lark, while the other, 

 lying low for the best advantage, waits t'he success of its companion's 

 efforts : thus while the one stoops to strike its prey, the other seizes 

 it at its coming down. 



Such are the natural and acquired habits of these birds, which of al\ 

 others have the greatest strength and courage relative to their size. 

 While the kite or the gos-hawk approach their prey side-ways, these 

 dart perpendicularly, in their wild state, upon their game, and devour 

 it on the spot, or carry it off, if not too large for their power of flying 

 They are sometimes seen descending perpendicularly from the clouds, 

 from an amazing height, and darting down on their prey with inevit- 

 able swiftness and destruction. 



The more ignoble race of birds make up by cunning and assiduity 

 what these claim by force and celerity. Being less courageous, they 

 are more patient ; and having less swiftness, they are better skilled at 

 taking their prey by surprise. The kite, that may be distinguished from 

 all the rest of this tribe by his forky tail and his slow floating motion, 

 seems almost for ever upon the wing. He appears to rest himself up- 

 on the bosom of the air, and not to make the smallest effort in flying. 

 He lives only upon accidental carnage, as almost every bird in the air 

 is able to make good its retreat against him. He may be therefore 

 considered as an insidious thief, who only prowls about, and, when 

 he finds a small bird wounded, or a young chicken strayed too far 

 from the mother, instantly seizes the hour of calamity, and, like a fa- 

 mished glutton, is sure to show no "*ercy. His hunger, indeed, often 

 urges him to acts of seeming desperation. I have seen one of them 

 fly round and round for a while to mark a clutch of chickens, and then 

 on a sudden dart like lightning upon the unresisting little animal, 

 and carry it off, the hen in vain crying out, and the boys hooting and 



