ROOK HAWKING 297 



great powers or to lower her to the level of an ordinary falcon. 

 Instead of this she was flown in a string at bagged rooks, and 

 the moment she seized them a fresh-killed pigeon was thrust 

 under the wing of the rook, and the falcon fed upon it. After 

 a time or two she began to think that rooks were not such bad 

 eating after all, and, being slipped at a wild one, brought it 

 down in splendid style. The same process was repeated, and 

 the lesson was learnt. After that day Bois-le-duc was slipped 

 at sixty consecutive rooks, which she killed with but a single miss 

 during that whole season, a feat which has never been rivalled 

 by any other hawk. For some time the greatest care was paid to 

 her condition and to her feeding, but ere long sRe became so 

 wedded to her quarry that no slip was too far, no chance too 

 bad for her, and she became, perhaps, the best rook hawk that 

 has ever been trained. 



Eyesses will sometimes take rooks very well, and there have 

 been many good rook hawks of this kind. As a rule, they lack 

 the dash and drive requisite for work of this kind. They will 

 kill on fine days and in nice places, but cannot take the long 

 slips in wild weather, and under all circumstances, that passage 

 hawks will attempt, even if they cannot succeed, nor are they 

 clever enough at footing to be deadly at a quarry so active in 

 shifting as the rook. It would be almost impossible to produce 

 a team of eyesses that would show sport to a large party, day 

 after day, in all weathers during March and April ; but with 

 passage hawks this can annually be done. 



Tiercels will fly rooks well enough, but are naturally rather 

 more difficult to enter than falcons ; for the rook is, on the 

 ground, almost as powerful a bird as the tiercel, and knocks 

 him about sadly. As a rule tiercels are not entered to this 

 quarry, but are kept for game and for magpies, &c. One of the 

 best that ever was flown was an eyess called ' Druid,' belonging 

 to the Hon. Cecil Buncombe, which for three years held his 

 own and flew in his turn with a first-class team of passage 

 falcons no small feat indeed when the difference in size, 

 power, and training are considered. There have been many 



