FALCONRY 291 



she did not last so long. In 1891 she killed 50 

 rooks on the Downs in spring, and in the same 

 autumn 50 grouse in Scotland, coming again to 

 her work at rooks as well as ever the following 

 March. 



In 1893 we had an extraordinary rook hawk 

 sent from Holland, which we called Danceaway. 

 She was always kept as a rook hawk, and lasted 

 for seven seasons, invariably flying in splendid form, 

 and never doing anything wrong. A child could 

 have handled and managed her, and she was a 

 delightful pet. Moreover, she always showed us 

 the best of sport, for her style of flying was a 

 treat to behold. She killed for us altogether 

 288 rooks. In 1902 we trained a remarkable 

 hawk at Lyndhurst, a haggard which was named 

 Shelagh. Now, for the benefit of those readers 

 who are not falconers, I must explain that a 

 haggard is a folly matured hawk possibly an 

 old one that has reared young, for it is not easy, 

 after the first moult into the blue or breeding 

 plumage, to say how old she may be. Possibly 

 she has migrated more than once, and travelled 

 over half of the globe, returning with her kind 

 to Northern Europe at her appointed season. 

 Obviously such hawks as these, with a wild 

 nature inbred in them, and influencing them for 



years, are five times as hard to train as a hawk 



T 2 



