72 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



of charging, by doubling back the neck, and pro- 

 jecting its sharp-pointed bill upwards, by which 

 means it preserves the head and neck from the 

 falcon's stroke, and also presents a point, on 

 which, should she strike, she would be transfixed, 

 and the heron escape in safety ; as does actually 

 sometimes happen. 



No amusement seems to have been followed 

 with so much eagerness as that of hawking, in 

 almost every country of Europe, and from the 

 earliest times, even before William the Con- 

 queror's days, it was the favourite pastime of the 

 magnates of England. Every young man of rank 

 was taught the mysteries of the art of falconry ; 

 king Alfred is said himself to have written a 

 treatise on the subject, and even ladies followed 

 the sport as eagerly as gentlemen ; the amuse- 

 ment being occasionally pursued on foot, but gene- 

 rally on horseback. 



In consequence of the disappearance of wastes 

 and commons, by inclosures and hedges which 

 renders it no easy matter to follow the amusement 

 without danger and delay and also, ever since 

 the introduction of guns, hawking has gradually 

 declined, and may now be said to be nearly at an 

 end, though within late years some attempts 

 have been made to revive it. 



Sir John Sebright, in his ' Observations on 



