INTRODUCTORY 239 



one fault, viz. that there is too little of it. ' Belany on Fal- 

 conry,' 1848, is a useful work, and in 1855 was published 

 ' Falconry in the British Isles,' which has ever since been re- 

 cognised as a standard work on the subject, excellent for its 

 letterpress, but beyond all praise for the admirable engravings 

 from the drawings of the late Mr. W. Brodrick, with which 

 the book is so copiously adorned. This book was followed by 

 ' Falconry : its History, Claims, and Practice,' by Messrs. 

 Freeman and Salvin, and by various other smaller treatises 

 which bring the history of the sport down to the present day. 



These works are all in the English tongue. There are in 

 French, German, Italian, in Swedish, Russian, Japanese, and 

 Hindustani, nay in every tongue that has existed since the 

 days of the Tower of Babel, works on falconry. Of all these, 

 manifold and curious as they are, we will commend but one to 

 the notice of the student on falconry ; that is the magnificent 

 work of Messrs. Schlegel and Wiilverhorst, published at Leyden 

 in 1841. The illustrations, from the pencil of Wolff, are in 

 themselves an education in falconry, while the letterpress (in 

 the French language) comprises as good a treatise upon the 

 art as it is possible to write. Especially interesting to English 

 readers are the graphic accounts of the heron hawking at the 

 Loo, which was chiefly carried on by the Hawking Club, a full 

 history of which is appended to the work. 



The student of falconry who desires to perfect himself in 

 the art need only possess himself of all the lore to be found 

 in these books. To their instructions we can add nothing. 

 With the knowledge contained in them we cannot presume to 

 vie ; but we will endeavour to describe the pursuit of falconry 

 precisely as it is carried on at the present day, with all the 

 advantages of modern science, with the disadvantages of 

 modern agriculture, and the modern manner of life. This is 

 an age of progress, and hawking, like other sciences, has not 

 altogether stood still. Facilities for travelling, modern educa- 

 tion, and the more rapid mode of thought have left their 

 mark upon this ancient art, jus: as they have upon other 



