160 HAWKING. 



In the above cases of hawking for Herons, * and 

 some other birds, it is observable that the Hawk's 

 object is to disable its prey in the air, and force it 

 to fall to the ground, by the infliction of a severe 

 wound; and it is remarkable, that well-trained 

 Hawks, and probably all, from natural instinct, aim 

 at the back, and for this curious reason, that the 

 Heron frequently, indeed, whenever it can, on find- 

 ing the Hawk above it, and ready to pounce down, 

 turns itself on its back, with an intention of piercing 

 its assailant through with its long sharp beak ; and 

 in ancient pictures of hawking, the Heron is often 

 represented falling with its back downwards, and 

 occasionally with the Hawk transfixed by its beak, 

 in the moment of descent. 



All Hawks, however, do not fly at their game 

 with an intention of taking it in the air, while others, 

 so far from avoiding the head, make it their parti- 

 cular point of attack, as the Kestrel (Falco tinnun- 

 culus\ which was invariably observed, by a person 

 who kept one for some time, to crush the head of 

 the animal given it for food, with its beak, before 

 it began to devour it. 



Those who are in the habit of -catching Hawks, 

 avail themselves of their knowledge of the different 

 ways in which they provide themselves with food, in 

 order to capture them; a description of a few of these 

 modes may be useful to some of our readers. The 

 manner of catching the celebrated Icelandic Falcons 

 was thus. So anxious were the inhabitants to secure 

 them, that almost every nest was known, and the 

 Falcon-catchers in the neighbourhood watched them 

 with the greatest care. When the old ones had reared 



