196 WILD LIFE IN CHINA 



But our topic is China, not England, and we turn once 

 more to that. In Swinhoe's ornithological notes made at 

 Chefoo, we find reference to the osprey, the peregrine, 

 merlin, kestrel, Eastern red-legged falcon, black-eared kite,. 

 goshawk, sparrow-hawk, and Stevenson's hawk, amongst 

 diurnal birds of prey. "A female sparow-hawk", he says, 

 "was brought to me on the wrist by amative. He was training, 

 it for hawking." Again he writes, "Throughout May in my 

 country rambles, I would frequently meet natives carrying 

 hawks on their wrists. This species (Stevenson's) was in 

 the greatest request. . . I once came upon a man actually 

 engaged in hawking." Of hawks used in falconry in N. China, 

 Pere David! mentions the following: the golden eagle, goshawk, 

 Stevenson's hawk, the sparrow-hawk, the saker, called the 

 "yellow hawk" by the Pekingese, the peregrine, and the 

 hobby, a list which covers the whole range of flying sport 

 from the capture of the smallest birds to that of wolf, gazelle, 

 antelope, and deer. On foot and on horseback hunters roam 

 the country to indulge in their favourite sport. It is impossible 

 to imagine anything more exhilarating in any form of chase 

 than the pursuit of prey on horseback aided by well trained 

 birds. A recent illustration in one of the British illus- 

 trated papers brings home this fact in a most attractive fashion. 

 The quarry there was a fox, the "hawk" employed, an eagle. 

 There we have the cunning of the quadruped matched 

 against the speed of the feathered pursuer, whose human 

 and four-footed allies are straining their utmost to keep up. 

 Polo is unquestionably an excellent game, and horsemen 

 rightly delight in it. But what is polo compared with this 

 wild chase, helter-skelter over illimitable plains, through an 

 atmosphere which stimulates like champagne, and with the 

 gratification of the hunting instinct thrown in, the prey at 

 times as dangerous as the wolf can be, at others as swift as 

 a frightened antelope ? Surely this must be the acme of 

 hunting delight, and it is no wonder that the Mongols and 

 Manchus have kept it alive. The only thing it lacks is the 

 music of the hounds. 



