HAWKING. 129 



great a distance; at length, one appeared to be coming 

 within reach, and preparations were made to attack him. 

 Each falconer wore a brown leather glove on his right hand, 

 to prevent the Hawks' talons from scratching the wrist ; 

 and there was a small bit of leather attached to the leg of 

 the bird, held by the falconer between the thumb and the 

 finger. Each of the men being now ready, with a Falcon 

 on his fist, and the bag with the lure tied to the waist, and 

 mounted on horseback, proceeded slowly in the direction 

 from whence the Heron was flying : and as soon as the 

 Heron was nearly opposite, thou9;!i at a very considerable 

 height in the air, they slipped the hoods from off the heads 

 of the Falcons, holding them to the fist by the bit of leather, 

 till they caught sight of the Heron, when the sport com- 

 menced in earnest. 



For the moment they were let loose, off they went, 

 straight as arrows, towards the Heron, which by this time 

 had gone a considerable distance ahead. As they were 

 dashing away towards it, an unfortunate Crow happened to 

 cross their course, when one of them instantly darted at 

 him, but he contrived to escape by striking into a planta- 

 tion, where the Falcon followed, but did not take him. 

 The other Falcon soon overtook the Heron, which began to 

 prepare for the threatened attack, by disgorging its ballast, 

 consisting of two or three fishes ; while the Hawk, after 

 flying round for a short time in circles, at length soared 

 above him, and then pouncing downwards, struck him on the 

 back, when they both came tumbling down together from a 

 great height to the ground. The other Falcon having lost 

 some time in chasing the Crow, was now flying with all 

 speed to assist her companion, and was coming up just as the 

 first Falcon and Heron were falling. At this instant, a Eook 

 happened to fly across, when the disappointed Falcon struck 

 at him, and they both fell together, within twenty yards of 

 the other Falcon and Heron. No sooner had they reached 

 the ground than each of the Falcons began to pull its victim 

 to pieces ; but as soon as the falconers could come up, the 

 lures were thrown out, and the Falcons were allowed to make 



K 



