RABBIT HA WRING. 223 



doubtless there were many places in the British Islands where 

 the Goshawk was to be found breeding, where the nests, or eyries, 

 were jealously watched, and the young were taken as soon as they 

 were ready to fly. This, however, is a thing of the past. It is 

 very many years since a Goshawk's nest was found in Great 

 Britain ; not since Colonel Thornton, a well-known falconer and 

 good all-round sportsman, discovered one in the Forest of 

 Rothiemurcus, and trained one of the young birds. This was at 

 the end of the last or beginning of the present century, since 

 which time no similar discovery has been recorded. 



At the present day, the Goshawks trained and flown in England 

 (and we know of many) are procured from France or Germany ; 

 chiefly from France, where, thanks to the good offices of some of 

 the French falconers, they are looked after, the nests protected, 

 and the young birds secured at the proper time. The price 

 varies with the age and condition of the bird. You may get one 

 through a dealer for a couple of pounds, but it is a chance 

 whether the flight feathers are unbroken, perfect wings being a 

 sine qua non in the case of a hawk that is to be trained and flown. 

 It is better to pay a little more, as in Paris, and secure a good 

 one. Occasionally a Goshawk is taken in a bow-net by one of the 

 Dutch hawk-catchers in North Brabant, and sent to England ; 

 but as a rule the birds captured by them are peregrines, for 

 which, at the present day, there is greater demand. 



As to the mode of training, it is very simple when you know it, 

 and the falconer who gives the greatest amount of personal 

 attention to the matter will have the greatest measure of success. 

 A hawk must learn to know her owner, or she will not allow him 

 to take her up. She must be fed by him, and carried as much 



