HOW I BECAME A FALCONER. 79 
though merlins are easy birds to catch. A peg buried among the 
grass, a round stone for a seat for the decoy hawk, a bow-net well 
covered with a little grass, and the feathers of a thrush, or some 
such bird; a small bird, alive, if possible, under the net; perhaps 
the snare mentioned above, cleverly set—these things would have 
given an account of the stray hawk, most likely. The difficulties 
would have been to have kept the hack merlins away from the 
net, and to have got a live bird in time. However, a dead one would 
most likely have answered, and the only chance of preventing the 
hack merlins from being troublesome would have been to gorge 
them from the lures as much as possible. 
Hawk catching, I should think, must be exciting and amusing 
work when you don’t sit all day ina mud hut waiting for the appear- 
ance of a bird. I have to go through it every year in a very mild 
form—I speak of taking young peregrines up from their hack. 
Some are taken most easily, even without a net, but others require 
along string and considerable care. I only once had an accident, 
and then a falcon lost one of her claws, but she did not make a bird 
of any consequence. 
I am not sure whether it is generally known that merlins will 
take mice and cockchafers. I have seen them catch both; the latter 
are fairly hawked, and I think I have seen the hawk put down his 
beak to his foot to kill or eat while he was upon the wing. Hobbies, 
we all know, are great insect catchers. 
Hawks at hack, especially merlins, are very easily killed when 
bathing. At sucha time they take little notice of a stranger, and 
he may come, if he is so disposed, within a few yards of a bathing 
bird, and kill it with a stone. I remember looking out of my window 
early in the morning some years ago, and enjoying the sight of 
two hack merlins at their ablutions in the brook. Presently a per- 
son with very scanty clothing and no shoes, a regular tramp, came 
lounging along. Suddenly he stopped, and made a dead point for 
