8 PRACTICAL FALCONRY. 
CHAPTER II. 
THE PEREGRINE FALCON (HACK). 
Tue falconer may receive his young hawks either when they are 
covered with white down, or a few days before they can fly, or 
when they are pretty strong on the wing. In the first case, he 
will very likely lose them by cramp, or, if not, he will probably 
be plagued with screamers ; in the second he will be fortunate; 
in the third not quite so fortunate. But he must remember that 
everything does not depend upon when he receives the hawks ; 
the point is, when were they taken? They may have been taken in 
the down, when far too young to be removed from the eyrie, and 
yet he may have received them when they were birds just about to 
fly. And it is sometimes difficult to command the proper time 
for their removal from the crags; for, if they don’t come through 
your friend’s keeper, if the eyrie is open to plunderers generally, the 
probability is that jealousy and fear of his neighbours will induce 
someone to take them too soon: just as our old friend Paley says, 
in the matter of the cherry tree in the hedge-row, “ It can be of no 
use to anyone, as each person would rather gather the fruit for 
himself before it is ripe, than lose it altogether by leaving it to 
another.” 
Ihave mentioned just now the very strong objection there is to 
taking the hawks too soon; but there are objections, though not 
nearly so strong, to taking them too late. If the nestlings are so 
forward that they have to be run down—the thing has been done, 
though the nature of the ground sometimes makes it impossible—by 
the time they reach you they will be tolerably strong birds. And 
then there is a considerable delay before it is safe or possible to put 
