RABBIT-HAWKING WITH THE GOSHAWK 215 



beginning of the present century, since which time no 

 similar discovery has been recorded. The goshawks 

 trained and flown in England at the present day (and 

 we know of many) are procured from France or 

 Germany ; chiefly from France, where, thanks to the 

 good offices of some of the French falconers, they 

 are annually looked after, the nests protected, and the 

 young birds secured at the proper season. The price 

 varies with the age and condition of the bird. You 

 may get one through a, German dealer for a couple 

 of pounds, but it will be a chance whether the flight 

 feathers will be unbroken, and perfect wings are a 

 sine qua non in the case of a hawk that is to be 

 trained and flown. It is better to pay a little more, 

 as at the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris, and secure 

 a good one. Occasionally a goshawk is taken in a 

 bow-net by one of the Dutch hawk-catchers at 

 Valkenswaard in North Brabant, and is sent to Eng- 

 land with the falcons which are annually forwarded 

 in autumn to the members of the Old Hawking Club 

 and others ; but as a rule the birds captured there 

 are peregrines, for which at the present day there is 

 greater demand. 



As to the mode of training, if the purchaser of a 

 goshawk has never handled a hawk before, and knows 

 nothing of the matter, he will do well to provide him- 



