298 FALCONRY 



good passage tiercels trained to rooks, of which the last was, 

 perhaps, ' Plenipotentiary,' in 1878. Rook hawking must needs 

 take place in very open and exposed country. It is also pur- 

 sued during a very bleak stormy time of year. To insure sport 

 it is advisable to use a light covered van in which to carry the 

 hawks, built after the fashion of a carrier's cart, or light game 

 waggon ; the interior is fitted with perches, on which the hawks 

 sit as well protected from weather as if they were in their mews 

 at home. Far different is it when they are dragged over the 

 downs on an open cadge, straining themselves to the utmost to 

 retain their footing against the bitter breeze, and, if feeding 

 time be delayed for an hour or two, starved by the cold 

 till they develop many diseases of different kinds. Without 

 warmth and protection no man can keep his hawks in the high, 

 yet keen, condition that is essential to sport, and without the 

 * van,' or some such contrivance, rook hawking could not be 

 brought to the perfection to which it has attained of late years. 

 In their comfortable carriage the hawks are readily conveyed 

 from place to place over a large tract of country. If rooks 

 cannot be found in one place, the party can easily shift to 

 another, taking the hawks with them, and in this way can 

 cover a great deal of country. 



A good horse that can gallop, but that is quiet enough to 

 carry a hawk, is indispensable. At the end of a flight, when 

 the falconer must needs dismount to take up his hawk, he 

 should be tethered by a leaden weight, which is carried in a 

 socket at the pommel of the saddle and attached to the bit by 

 a rein. To stand well with this weight, which can be dragged 

 if the horse bolts (i.e. do not break the bridle), and to carry a 

 hawk well, requires a little education, and we have always found 

 thoroughbred horses (especially young ones) more fearless and 

 better suited to this work than any others. A good deal may be 

 done with a very nervous horse by keeping him in a loose box 

 with three or four live pigeons till he is thoroughly used to them, 

 and to stand with the weight is best learned by long hacking 

 rides with the frequent use thereof among fresh spring grass, 



