HAWKS IN THE FIELD 209 



Then came a ringer, which was well flown, and bested in the 

 air, but escaped by putting in. At length there was a successful 

 flight at a ringer, which, however, was not killed until it had 

 been routed out from the shelter to which it had put in, and 

 afforded a second flight. The double RR over the record of 

 this item in the score shows that at the second start as well 

 as the first the flight was a ringing one. 



Ruby's score begins on the morning of September i with a 

 double flight at a mounting lark, in which he did most of the 

 work, and took the quarry in the air. He is therefore credited 

 with | of the lark, to mark his superiority, whereas only £ is 

 scored to Diamond, who was his companion in the flight. In 

 the afternoon he puts in a mounter, which is lost, kills a ground 

 lark, and then puts in another mounter, which is routed out, 

 but puts in again, and is only taken when driven out a second 

 time from his hiding-place. Having stuck to this lark well, and 

 accurately marked the places where he put in, the little jack is 

 excused from further flying. Next day he begins with the un- 

 successful flight which he flew with Pearl. Then he takes a 

 mounter in the air, and at the next attempt goes up so far after 

 a first-rate ringer that no one can keep him in sight. As this 

 lark was obviously making for a big plantation towards which 

 the flight went, and as the hawk, though usually obedient to 

 the lure, did not come to it or appear again, it is almost certain 

 that he must have killed. The fairest way in such cases is to 

 mark the flight by a (?), and not count it either as a kill or a 

 miss in the general score. The L shows that Ruby was left 

 out, and the (i) on the following morning shows that it was 

 ascertained in some way that while roaming about on his own 

 account he killed (and ate) a lark. The C indicates his recovery 

 late in the day ; and the manner of his recapture, of course, is 

 referred to in the notes. 



Diamond's first item is the ■£ credited to him for the part he 

 played in the double flight with Ruby. He goes on by killing 

 a ringer in the morning ; and for his pains is rewarded with a 

 good half of it, being then reserved for the last of the afternoon's 

 flights, when the half-lark may have ceased to trouble his diges- 

 tive organs. In the evening he puts in first a mounter and then 

 a ringer, and then having with some difficulty and after a long 

 flight killed a good mounter, is fed up just before it gets dark. 

 On the morrow he falls in with two ground larks in succession, 

 and kills them both. Hitherto, ever since the double flight with 

 Ruby, in which he was outpaced, he has been doing well. 

 14 



