RABBIT HAWKING 



333 



taken during an evening walk, but we have known sixteen and 

 seventeen killed before the hawk was tired. Good sport may be 

 obtained by using a ferret to bolt the rabbits, but care must be 

 taken lest the goshawk take the ferret and kill it. A good 

 female will kill pheasants ; they are best flown among hedge- 

 rows or in a very open plantation, and should they gain covert 



Goshawk with rabbit in her foot 



in front of the hawk they will not dare to run, but will lie very 

 close. The goshawk will 'make her point,' i.e. shoot up again 

 in the air, very accurately at the spot where the pheasant has 

 put in, and when she is called down to the fist the bird may be 

 freshly found by a spaniel and will generally be taken at the 

 second flight. 



Hares may be taken by female goshawks in precisely the 



