80 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
pass, through the impossibility of getting young hawks “ hacked” — 
z.e., flown at liberty for a month—without which full strength of 
wing is usually unattainable. I had at last to remove the difficulty 
by purchasing a small Lodge for this purpose in an open part of 
the County Limerick ; but, so far as | am concerned, I might almost 
have spared myself the trouble, as | now seldom use any but 
“ passage” z.e. wild-caught—hawks. 
Ten years ago the supply of hawks fit for Falconry was so scanty 
and uncertain, that if a would-be falconer on a small scale chanced 
to lose a hawk, he had little prospect of being able to replace it 
during the same season; and, if he kept reserve hawks for fear of 
accidents, they required so much exercise as to add seriously to his 
work. This difficulty, scanty supply, was especially the case with 
regard to Goshawks; and this was particularly unfortunate, since 
the Goshawk is, par excellence, the country gentleman’s hawk. 
The Peregrine is easily lost, and can only be used in a suitable 
unenclosed country, of which we have but little left, though in 
some districts, especially Oxfordshire, high farming is again 
unenclosing the country, and obliterating the hedgerows. The 
Goshawk can be used anywhere, even in the thickest woods, and 
cannot be lost without extreme mismanagement. Moreover, one 
bird (of this species) will do all the work required; fourteen or 
fifteen rabbits or seven or eight Pheasants, in a day, is a per- 
formance quite within the powers of this noble bird. Hares try it 
more severely; in fact, it is not every Goshawk that will hold a 
hare at all. True, the exquisite beauty of the Peregrine’s flight is 
wanting. The flight is a comparatively straight one, though I have 
had Goshawks that would stoop almost like falcons; but to make 
up for this there is an amount of intelligence and affectionate 
attachment that we look for in vain in the Peregrine. It is most 
interesting to notice the sharp, excited, knowing way in which a 
Goshawk will watch every movement of its assistant spaniels in 
rabbit-hawking. The bird, properly treated, is as companionable 
as any dog; in fact, in moral qualities, it is simply a winged 
terrier, and if properly trained will follow its master for miles 
through the thickest woods. Unlike most other species, its affec- 
tion is not cupboard-love; for I have known a Goshawk, after 
catching a rabbit, to fly to my empty fist, bringing the rabbit with 
her, and the same hawk would equally come to my fist when called 
after being completely gorged ! 
