HOW I BECAME A FALCONER. . 87 
way. The male bird is too small for full-grown rabbits, and should 
be kept entirely for pheasants, landrails, water-hens, and perhaps 
young partridges. The goshawk is a very slow bird, and a pheasant 
once thoroughly in the swing of its flight will often beat it hollow. 
The best chance is at the rise, and if the hawk is ina tree that 
chance is very considerable. Undoubtedly too you may kill a passing 
pheasant, especially if you are above it. 
I never threw the hinder parts of a rabbit to a goshawk on its 
perch—only the head and shoulders. On the fist, she may be fed 
with the hind legs, because there is nothing very distinctive about 
them when in your hand. : 
I have spoken of flying from ‘trees, and certainly the position 
attained on a bough is better than that on the falconer’s hand; but 
a young bird should be flown in the open. The fist is quite a good 
enough position to kill from, and if a bird gets into the habit of 
taking to trees, she may tease your life out by stopping there an 
hour at a time, utterly regardless of all your allurements. A live 
rabbit, however, or a live pigeon ina string, if she has killed a few 
such pigeons, will bring her down, she being really hungry ; and, 
unless she is hungry, as I said before, she has no business in the 
field at all. 
No goshawk ever attempted to injure me, except by flying at my 
legs when she was on food at the bow-perch; a real squeeze from 
such terrible feet would be serious; but I have never suffered any 
inconvenience from them. Still, after the accident with Islay, I 
feel the necessity of being careful with some of the larger hawks; 
and I had very much rather that a piece of food did not slip out of 
my hand when a hungry goshawk was feeding upon it before I had 
secured the jesses. I once thought of trying the male golden eagle 
with hares and rabbits, but I don’t care to run any risk; neither, 
I think, would such a bird be safe with children, Let me also 
say that very little children should not be allowed to go 
