108 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



perseveres, her superior flying powers will take her above the 

 quarry. At what,. time and height this desirable result is 

 brought about depends, of course, partly upon the speed of the 

 one bird and partly on the speed of the other. There is a 

 saying among falconers that a good hawk makes a bad quarry, 

 meaning that a rook or other bird which might give a fine 

 flight when only a moderate hawk was behind him very often 

 makes quite a poor show against a first-rate performer. It 

 may also be said with some truth that a good quarry makes a 

 bad hawk, inasmuch as hawks which have flown many a good 

 flight and killed many a fairly fast-flying rook may sometimes 

 find themselves pitted against such exceptionally strong ones 

 that they seem unable to get above them, and give to the 

 stranger an appearance of being slow themselves. 



A good and experienced falcon or other rook-hawk will not 

 be content with merely getting above her quarry before she 

 makes her first stoop. She will go on ringing until she is so 

 far above that the first stoop will be a good one. That is 

 to say, that she may be able to get such an impetus upon 

 her in the dash downwards as to rush up to the rook hand 

 over hand, or, as the racing men say, as if he were standing 

 still. And, having so run up to him, that she may, if she misses 

 him, utilise the remainder of her impetus in shooting up again 

 in preparation for a second stoop. The rook, on his part, when 

 he finds the falcon above him, has to choose between two 

 courses. Either he will persevere in trying to keep the air — and 

 in that case must trust to quick turns and twists to elude the 

 foe — or he will adopt the less valiant but almost equally 

 dangerous alternative of a race to the nearest covert, with the 

 necessity of eluding a certain number of stoops on the way. 

 In the first case the flight will become a sort of improved 

 version of coursing. Improved, because a bird has so much 

 more varied chances of throwing out his pursuer than the hare, 

 which can turn only either to the right or the left. He must 

 always be on what the mathematicians call the same plane. 

 The rook, on the other hand, may, if he likes, double simply to 

 right or left. But he may also, if he prefers it, duck downwards 

 or shoot upwards, allowing the hawk to pass over him or under 

 him. Or he may turn partly upwards or downwards, and partly 

 to either side. Thus there are an unlimited number of angles 

 at which he can swerve away to avoid the stroke. 



The art and science of " shifting " is indeed one of the most 

 elaborate that is possessed by the dumb creature. Almost all 

 birds cultivate it to a certain degree. Instinct suggests it to 



