HOME LIFE 187 



and more solid than the natural food of any hawk, and therefore 

 apt, if freely given, to make her dull, slow, and sluggish. For 

 sparrow-hawks and merlins it is distinctly bad, if often taken, 

 and in large quantities at a time. These latter, when in flying 

 order at the right season of the year, are, of course, almost 

 always fed up in the field on the quarry they have last killed 

 before finishing their day's work, and the next morning have a 

 few mouthfuls of similar food which has been killed the after- 

 noon before. When a rook-hawk will readily feed up in the 

 same way on her vanquished quarry, it will be convenient, occa- 

 sionally at least, to let her do so. Game-hawks should also be 

 allowed sometimes to take their pleasure on their own grouse, 

 partridge, pheasant, or even woodcock ; but in practice they are 

 seldom lucky enough to get more than the heads and necks, 

 though modern falconers who fly mostly for sport, and not " for 

 the pot," are often more liberal in this respect than their pre- 

 decessors of the Middle Ages. 



Goshawks, when kept to hares, or indeed to any quarry 

 which taxes their utmost powers, should often be allowed to 

 finish their meal on one of their victims. Between whiles they 

 may often with advantage be regaled with washed meat only, 

 or some not very appetising food. It is well to induce all hawks 

 to believe that a kill after a hard flight means an extra good 

 feast. But merlins and male sparrow-hawks must very seldom, 

 if at all, know the taste of washed meat, or of any third-rate 

 diet. Some of them, when in first-rate fettle, are very dainty, 

 and will lose the pink of their condition if not indulged with 

 their favourite food. These little hawks are exceedingly fond 

 of swallows and some other very small birds ; and although few 

 people would be barbarous enough to deliberately kill any small 

 bird except a sparrow, yet if a young martin should be picked 

 up under the nest from which it has accidentally fallen, and 

 given to a merlin, it will be odd if that hawk does not fly 

 unusually well when next put on the wing. In the lark-hawking 

 season, one of these active workers will not only keep herself 

 in food, but often supply enough extra victims to provide a 

 daily meal of the very best kind for a tiercel, or even a falcon, 

 which happens then to be in moult. The short-winged hawks 

 will also sometimes in one afternoon kill more than they could 

 themselves eat in a week. 



A not unimportant item of the commissariat is a supply of 

 good tirings. A tiring may consist of anything tough which is 

 appetising enough for a hawk to keep pulling and picking at it 



