ROOK-HAWKING ill 



of any kind will do — the taller the better. A farmyard or a 

 flock of sheep, even a hedge or an empty sheep-fold, or a waggon 

 — anything behind or around which he can save himself from 

 the dreaded stoop. In any, even of the least effective refuges, 

 there will be at least a respite. And if that very poor strong- 

 hold is found untenable, he can begin a fresh retreat to a more 

 promising place, with recovered wind, and perhaps better luck. 

 Often a rook will make for a rather distant plantation, with a 

 nearer shelter of an inferior kind in view as a pis aller. The 

 hawk, of course, knows as well as he what he is after, and 

 follows at her best pace. Now is the time to ride hard. Even 

 with a moderate wind the birds will be travelling over a mile a 

 minute. Ride as you will, they will be over your head long 

 before you are near the covert, if it is at all distant. Lucky if 

 you are even in time to be near when the first down-wind stoop 

 is delivered. The down-wind stoop of a peregrine is terrible. 

 It is often avoided, no doubt, but the impetus, if she misses, 

 carries her on right ahead of the rook, over the place where he 

 must pass if he goes on. And there she is, blocking the way 

 to the desired haven. She can poise herself steadily for the 

 next shot, choosing her own time for it, and will have every 

 possible advantage over the rook, which has to run the gauntlet 

 of those eight dagger-like talons. The last stoop before reaching 

 covert is very often fatal. The hawk knows that probably it is 

 her last chance of catching hold, whereas in the open she is 

 aware that a very fast stroke, though not quite accurately aimed, 

 will do a great deal towards taking the nerve and strength out 

 of her quarry, and make him easier to hit later on. 



If the rook once makes a plantation of any size, he is safe. 

 No human power can drive him out. Peregrines, of course, will 

 not go into cover after their quarry. Now and then a young 

 hawk at hack will try to do something vague in the way of 

 cutting down or dislodging a bird which has put in ; but such 

 attempts are dismal failures, and are hardly ever even thought of 

 by " grown-ups." If the rook has put in to a very low tree or a tall 

 hedge, he may often be dislodged by throwing sticks and stones 

 at him, or sending a boy up. Sometimes snapping a cap on a 

 pistol, or cracking a whip, or making any other sudden and loud 

 noise, will put him on the wing again. But before going far, he 

 is only too likely to put back to the same place, or to a neigh- 

 bouring tree, if one is near, or to another part of the hedge. 

 Even when the shelter is only a low line of hurdles, it is quite 

 difficult to hustle out a rook so that the peregrine, waiting on 

 above, may have a fair shot at him. A big tree is generally a 



