290 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
has a coloured eye, usually yellow or orange. The mode in 
which the two take their prey is very different. ‘The long-winged 
falcon rises in circles until above the bird she is pursuing, and 
then, with half-closed wings, descends upon it with a “ stoop,” 
often from a considerable height. The short-winged hawk flies 
directly behind its prey, and, overtaking it by superior speed, 
either clutches it, or makes but a very short “stoop” to seize it. 
Falconers accordingly take advantage of this difference of habit, 
and select such “quarry” as each is capable of taking. ‘he 
Peregrine will take Rooks, Crows and Magpies, Partridges, 
Grouse, Peewits, Curlews, and even Herons; the Jerfalcon used to 
be the hawk par excellence for Herons and Cranes; the Hobby and 
Merlin will take Larks well; the Goshawk is flown at Partridges, 
Pheasants, Wildfowl, and Rabbits ; and the Sparrowhawk, which, 
although usually employed to catch Blackbirds and Thrushes, 
will (i.¢., the female bird will) kill Partridges like a Goshawk. 
In Syria it is commonly used for taking Quail. 
Let us see now how these falcons and hawks are caught, and 
how they are tamed and trained. They may be either taken when 
fledged from the nest, or they may be caught after they have 
flown; and at any age. If taken from the nest they must be flown 
“at hack,” as it is termed; that is to say, they must be allowed 
their liberty for a certain time, and fed regularly every day at the . 
same place and at the same hour, until they are strong on the 
wing and able to kill “‘ quarry” for themselves. They are then 
taken up, and the training coinmences. If caught “on passage,” 
i.e., While migrating in spring and autumn, they are treated in 
a different way, presently to be noticed. 
In the autumn of 1877 I went to Holland for the purpose of 
learning the Dutch method of taking and training “ passage 
hawks”; and an extremely interesting visit it was. As I 
have elsewhere described minutely what I saw,* it will ouly 
be necessary to observe here that the falconer, or rather the 
hawk-catcher, lies in wait for the hawks during the time they are 
migrating; that he attracts the attention of those passing over by 
means of a live pigeon, which is tethered close to a bow-net; 
and that the hawk, having seized the pigeon, is covered by the net, 
and taken alive and uninjured. 
* In the Falconry columns of ‘ The Field,’ 16th Feb. and 16th March, 1878, 
