THE COMMON HERON 119 



and " Empress." He sees them, out he throws his 

 fish, and at once begins to ring up ; and the hawks 

 do the same, sweeping round in great circles to get 

 above him. To those who had never seen a flight 

 before they would appear at times to be flying 

 from their quarry. One more ring round and they 

 are above him now. One shuts her wings and 

 drives at him like a bolt from a cross-bow, but the 

 Heron makes a shift and she misses him, shooting 

 hundreds of feet below her quarry. Recovering 

 herself she rings up again just as her companion 

 stoops, hitting the Heron hard, and causing a small 

 cloud of feathers to stream away from him. Now 

 the one that missed her stroke is above him again ; 

 down she comes and binds to him, and her mate 

 does the same. This is the time to run and ride, 

 for the birds are slowly coming to the ground, 

 buoyed up by their grand wings. Down they come. 

 Directly the Heron touches the ground, the hawks 

 let go of him to bind to him again instantly, for 

 they are old birds that have gained experience. 

 But the Heron is in one of the falconer's hands, his 

 fish-spear of a bill secured from mischief, and the 

 hawks made into, taken up, and hooded. It has 

 been a rare good flight. The falconer places the 

 Heron between his knees, so that it is not able to 

 strike him, pulls out the two long crest feathers as 

 trophies, fixes a mark on one of the bird's legs so 

 that it may be known if captured again, and lets 

 him go, slightly bewildered, but not much the worse 

 for it all. 



