CHAPTER II... 
HAWKS AND HAWKING. 
TO those who have ever taken part in a hawking 
excursion, it must be a matter of some surprise 
that so delightful a pastime has ceased to be popular. 
Yet, at the present day, perhaps not one person in 
five hundred has ever seen a trained hawk flown. In 
Shakespeare’s time things were very different. Every 
one who could afford it kept a hawk, and the | rank 
of the owner was indicated by the species of bird which 
he carried. To a king belonged the gerfalcon; to a 
prince, the falcon gentle ; to an earl, the peregrine; to 
a lady, the merlin : to a young squire, the hobby; while 
a yeoman carried a goshawk : a Priest, a sparrowhawk ; 
and a knave, or servant, a kestrel. But the sport was 
attended with great expense, and much time and attention 
were required of the falconer before his birds were per- 
fectly trained, and he himself a proficient. 
This, combined withthe increased enclosure and 
H 
