128 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



her quarry, and onwards after it is struck, that the talon will 



not hold. Something in the body of the victim givesway — the 



^kin, or maybe a bone or two. Moreover, the strain upon a 



falcon's foot, if she dragged along with her a heavy bird flying 



i only half as fast at the moment as herself, might be painful 



^nd even dangerous. Consequently a hawk which has a very 



" hard " stoop, as all passage gers have and many wild-caught 



'peregrines, will sometimes not endeavour to catch hold or bind. 



j\They then " strike " in the truest sense of the word. They deal 



a blow, either downwards or forwards, using the two hind talons 



;*for it, and either break some bone or knock all the wind out of 



"the victim struck. The jar of the blow as they rush by tells 



1 them that it has come home, and instead of throwing up high, 



^as they would if they had missed, they check their flight 



quickly, and, swinging round in the air, descend rapidly on 



5the panting or dazed foe. Instances have been known when a 



»stoop has cut the head clean off from a grouse, and one of 



JMr. Freeman's falcons cut through several ribs of a partridge 



>as she hit it down. And yet the ger's stoop is accounted much 



" harder " than the peregrine's. 



Game-peregrines, when well entered, may very well be flown 

 four or five times a day. Some of them, when in good fettle, 

 more. Six kills in one day is a decided feat for a peregrine ; 

 though it has been accomplished in modern times, and probably 

 surpassed occasionally. But it is unwise to overdo the thing, 

 and so tax the hawk too severely. If you have a very high- 

 mounter, you may as well remember a piece of advice upon 

 which D'Arcussia insists. This is to fly her not many times in 

 any one day. Her high mounting is such a grand thing in itself, 

 he says, that it is better to maintain it, even if your bag and 

 your score suffer, than by letting her kill more — which she 

 could undoubtedly do — to run the risk of lowering her pitch. 

 If, however, a hawk has had bad luck, and still seems " full of 

 flying," you may go on after several unsuccessful flights in the 

 hope of rewarding her at last. It is a very good thing in all 

 sorts of hawking to "leave off with a kill." Accordingly, if 

 the third or fourth flight is successful, the wise falconer will 

 often feed up and leave well alone. I should like to go a little 

 further, and say that at any time after a very hard flight, in 

 which the hawk has triumphed over exceptional difficulties 

 and greatly exerted herself, it is a wise thing to feed up. " Oh, 

 do fly her again," is a seductive cry which some friend is likely 

 to raise. But though next time she could not fly better, she 

 might perhaps fly worse. I should be inclined to tell such 



