(Uf 



EAPTOEES, OR BIRDS OP PREY. 



and Gyrfalcon. But the chase of other birds, in which the in- 

 ducement was a j>Tej fit for food, was considered the sport of an 

 esquire ; and for this were used the Hobbj' {Iloberemi, French), the 

 Merlin, the Kestrel, the Goshawk, and the Sparrow-hawk. Hence 

 comes the nickname of Hohereau applied to French country gen- 

 tlemen ; "because," as Lacnrnede Sainte-Palaj'e says, "they wish 

 to show an appearance of more propertj' than they reallj- possess ; 

 and not being able to keep Falcons, which cost too much in their 

 purchase and food, they hawk with Hobbies, which are readily pro- 

 cured, and also provide Partridges and Quails for their kitchens." 

 The most noble cast, but also the rarest, was that at the Kite. 

 We have already mentioned, when speaking of nocturnal birds of 

 prey, how at one time thej' were in the habit of alluring this 

 bird by means of a Great (Long-eared) Owl, 

 dressed out with a fox's brush. Some strata- 

 gem of this kind was obliged to be used in 

 order to get near the Kite, which flies at 

 heights altogether inaccessible to the best 

 Falcon. When the Kite came within range 

 a Falcon was let fly, and then a most inter- 

 esting conflict took place between the two 

 birds. The Kite, harassed by its enemy, and, 

 in spite of its turns and twists and numberless 

 feints, unable to escape him, generally in the 

 end fell into its foe's clutches. 



The cast at a Heron generally presented 

 fewer incidents. This bird, from not being 

 gifted with the same powers of wing, was 

 unavoidably overtaken with much greater ease, although, when 

 not overloaded with food, it occasionally managed to escape. Still 

 it always defended itself with energy, and the blows of its formid- 

 able bill were often fatal to its pursuer. In Heron hawking (Fig. 

 294) a dog was required to flush the game, and three Falcons to 

 capture it : the duty of the first was to make the quarri/ rise, of the 

 second to follow it, and of the third to clutch it. We shall quote 

 from an ancient author of a " Treatise on Falconry " the account 

 of a cast at a Heron ; the description will well explain the details 

 of this kind of sport. 



