328 FALCONRY 



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CHAPTER V 



THE SHORT-WINGED HAWKS — GOSHAWKS — HOW OBTAINED — 



TRAINING ENTERING — RABBIT HAWKING — VARIOUS 



FLIGHTS^THE SPARROW-HAWK — : MANAGEMENT — BLACK- 

 BIRD HAWKING. 



Of the short-winged or true hawks only two varieties are 

 used in England, viz. the goshawk and the sparrow-hawk ; the 

 latter is common enough in every country, the former is only 

 an extremely rare visitant to this country. It breeds pretty 

 freely in the forests of Germany, in France, and in Norway, 

 the hawks from the latter country being as a rule the best. 

 They are widely distributed, however, throughout Europe, and 

 varieties of this species are found throughout the world. We 

 know of no authenticated instance of its breeding in Great 

 Britain since Colonel Thornton in his ' Northern Tour ' found 

 several nests in the forests of Glenmore and Rothiemurchus, 

 whence he took and trained a young bird. Passage goshawks, 

 which are in every respect infinitely the best, are sometimes taken 

 at Valkenswaard in the same manner as peregrines. Full-grown 

 birds can also be caught not unfrequently in the German and 

 Norwegian forests ; such as these will prove very superior to the 

 hawks taken out of the nest, which are spoken of by Bert, who' 

 i» wrote in 1619 one of the best and most practical books ever pub- 

 lished on falconry, treating entirely of the short-winged hawks, 

 as ' the eyas hawk upon whom I can fasten no affection for the 

 multitude of her folHes and faults.' In ancient times, however, 

 falconers or ' ostringers,' as the trainers of the true hawks were 

 termed, seem to have been in the habit of turning their hawks 



