CHAPTER II. 



HAWKS AND HAWKING. 



PO 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 with the increased enclosure and 



H 



