EYESSES AND HACK HAWKS 61 



even of those which will ultimately be the longest winged, 

 appear rounded at the ends, like those of a sparrow-hawk. But 

 they will very soon learn to fly quite well, with a rather gliding 

 movement, the tips of the feathers bending upwards as they strike 

 the air. They will not go far from the spot where they are 

 turned out. What sort of place should this be that is chosen 

 for the hack ground ? That depends upon the facilities which 

 the trainer enjoys for selecting a country. None perhaps is 

 better than a large park, with fir-trees in it, or an open moor 

 with a few stone walls. If the falconer is nervous about turning 

 out a whole nestful at once, he may tether one of the most 

 backward at a block in the middle of the hack field, with a 

 " tiring " to amuse her, and place some garnished lures on the 

 ground near to her, to which the liberated hawks may come 

 when they like. There should also be spare blocks put out in 

 the field, upon which the hack hawks may jump if they like 

 after feeding. Of course, if the weather is very wet, the com- 

 mencement of hack should be deferred till it is more settled, 

 and the hawks brailed and let loose in an empty room or loft. 

 If they have been " manned " pretty well before they are turned 

 out, and will allow themselves to be taken up when feeding on the 

 lure, they may be taken in under shelter the first night or two. 

 But if it is fairly warm and fine they will be better left out. 

 They will generally at or soon after sunset go up into pretty 

 tall trees to roost. If they stay too long on a block or a gate 

 or post, it is as well to drive or take them off, and see that they 

 are perched up somewhere aloft^ out of harm's way. By the 

 bye, hawks, as a rule, should be turned loose in the early part 

 of the day, after a light feed, so that they may be sure to get 

 hungry again by the middle of the day. Jubilee, the best hack 

 hawk I ever had, when he was let loose at 7 a.m., having never 

 before flown two yards, spread his wings, and at the first start 

 flew softly but steadily away across a small river, and, rising 

 easily, took perch 300 yards off on the top branches of an elm 

 70 feet high. He afterwards flitted about from one high tree 

 to another within a range of 500 yards, and only at midday came 

 down to his sister, who was eating her luncheon at a block in 

 the hack field. He spent that night in a tall elm, not far off, and 

 did not go more than half a mile from the hack field until he 

 was taken up nearly a fortnight later. 



If the falconer can hack his own hawks, so much the better. 

 He will learn during the process much about their individual 

 characters and aptitudes. Often he will name them in accord- 

 ance with their peculiarities or the adventures which each may 



