302 FALCONRY 



have been killed in one day, while the total score of rooks and 

 crows taken in the spring of 1887 by the Old Hawking Club" 

 reached 209. One year with another some 150, for the last 

 fifteen seasons, haye generally been killed, which represents 

 many a ringing flight, and many a brisk gallop over the breezy 

 downs. 



Another flight which taxes to the full the powers of the 

 best passage hawks, but which is capable of affording the 

 finest of sport, is the flight of the seagull. In many places 

 herring and other gulls are found far inland, and in open places 

 following the plough or feeding on the land. In 1877 the 

 Rev. W. Willimott, a thoroughly practical falconer residing in 

 Cornwall, trained a passage falcon, that had been entered at 

 rooks, to this quarry with no little success. The hawk took so 

 keenly to the gulls that she would fly them well even with 

 flocks of rooks or other birds around her, and several very fine 

 flights were the result. In fact, on the only occasions wheij 

 the falcon was defeated the gull made good its point to the 

 sea, but in the air the falcon had the mastery. More recently 

 considerable success has been achieved in flying gulls upon 

 the Yorkshire Wolds by Mr. St. Quintin. This gentleman has 

 chiefly used tiercels for the sport, and principally passage 

 tiercels. With these he has succeeded, on one or two occasions, 

 in taking even the big herring gull, and, perhaps, from their 

 greater activity, they are even better suited than falcons to 

 the small, black-headed gull. Still, upon the whole, we think 

 falcons are most likely to achieve success with seagulls. In the 

 year 1890 Mr. St. Quintin succeeded in killing no fewer than 

 forty-three gulls during winter and early spring, using both 

 tiercels and falcons, and many of the flights were of the finest 

 possible description. As gulls will put in to no sort of covert 

 except water, this flight can be obtained in a country where 

 any other kind of ringing flight would be impracticable. It is 

 not an easy quarry to enter hawks to, and considerable know- 

 ledge of the condition and management of hawks is necessary. 

 As a rule, care must be taken to avoid letting the hawks break 



