8 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



published by Turbervile in 1575, by Latham in 161 5, and by 

 Bert on the short- winged hawks in 1635. Still more interesting 

 are the books written in French by Charles d'Arcussia, which 

 date from 1598 to 1627. The nineteenth century has produced 

 several important works, including the small treatise by Sir 

 John Sebright, 1826, and the splendid illustrated volume by 

 Schlegel and Wulverhorst, 1853. The Badminton Library 

 contains half a volume on Falconry from the very able pen of 

 Mr. Gerald Lascelles ; and the Encyclopedia Britannica has an 

 article on the subject by Colonel Delmd Radcliffe. 



To look for any real revival of falconry in Europe would be 

 altogether quixotic. Lucky indeed may the falconer of the future 

 consider himself if the art even survives. Already the goshawk, 

 the ger, and the golden eagle are almost extinct in England ; 

 sparrow-hawks have become so rare that constant advertise- 

 ments offering to buy one remain without response ; the harm- 

 less hobby and innocuous merlin are ferociously persecuted, and 

 have been exterminated in most of their favourite haunts. A 

 lost hawk has become almost a synonym for a murdered hawk. 

 Owners are beset with enemies on every hand, besides being 

 plagued and pestered by ignorant and impertinent intruders, if 

 ever they venture with their hawks into a public place. The 

 country becomes more and more unsuitable for hawking pur-, 

 poses. Upon many of the most open spaces bricks and mortar 

 intrude ; upon other parts the vexatious small plantations de- 

 signed as shelters for game. Even when a suitable grouse-moor 

 or partridge-ground is found in want of a tenant, obstacles may 

 be raised. A baseless but deep-rooted prejudice deters many 

 lessors from allowing trained hawks to be flown over their land, 

 on the absurd plea that it will spoil it for subsequent tenants. 

 In short, the impediments with which the modern falconer has 

 to contend are too many and too great for any but a few very 

 determined sportsmen. These, when they have once mastered 

 the initial difficulties, usually persist in preferring the sport to 

 any other. " Once a falconer, always a falconer," is a maxim of 

 universal truth. And the fraternal spirit which animates most 

 English falconers — and, for that matter, most falconers through- 

 out the world — is not the least agreeable feature presented by 

 this ancient and honourable field sport. 



