GULLS, HERON, KITE, DUCK, ETC. 149 



stoops at the head of the unfortunate creature, which is, of 

 course, no match for' them in speed, and thereby in the long- 

 run deprive it of what little wits it had to start with. In 

 course of time this repeated buffeting reduces it to a state of 

 utter bewilderment and exhaustion, so that it can be held by 

 the falcons, or seized by the dogs which sometimes follow the 

 flight as their allies. In England, of course, a hare may be put 

 up by accident, and a falcon, waiting on, may stoop at it in- 

 stinctively. Parachute, the very excellent eyess falcon already 

 named, killed three hares in 1882. At one of these she was 

 flown intentionally, to show what she could do with him. She 

 kept striking him on the head till he was so exhausted that she 

 thought she could safely catch hold. But when she did so a 

 rough-and-tumble occurred, as it will in hawking with the gos- 

 hawk ; and before it was ended, the very steady setter which 

 was out thought it time to run in and give the coup de grace. 

 These were all Scotch hares ; and the last-mentioned of them 

 weighed a full 6 lb. 



