122 
A Hawking Epi. ode. 
A Hawking Episode. 
By H. Whistler, I. P., M.B.O.U. 
It is a tliill overcast 
iimrniiij^ as we ride out of 
I lit' did Serai courtyard and 
turn our horses' heads to- 
wards the low stretch of 
liills which form the advance 
t^uard, as it were, of the 
Salt Hanye. Tlie horses are 
impatient in tlie cold and 
tile Shikaris on foot have 
already proceeded us, so it 
does not take long to reach 
the meeting place, a village 
near the base of the hills. 
Here we find the ob- 
ject around which the expe- 
dition centres — a young 
IVregi'ine Falcon : She was 
caught on Octul)er Kith, 
near Hazro, in Attock Dis- 
Thc Heroin.' of (he Story. trict — a bird of the year 
on her first migration — and since then has been an object of 
the most loving care on the part of my Falconer and myself. 
As far as points go the Hawk is a very good one and we 
have determined that her first flight shall be at Honbara 
Bustard; this is the reason why she is still unentered, for I 
have so far been unable to visit any Bustard ground. How- 
ever, some days ago, Shikari came in with the news that 
he had seen three Honbara in a patch of cultivation at the 
foot of the hills; so as the spot was near a Serai bungalow 
some ten miles from Headquarters, the chance was decided 
to be worth trying. 
At first, appearances are against us; the ground is 
verj' bad, broken up into rocky nullahs, and very different 
to the sandy wastes which one usually associates with Bus- 
tard. Moreover, none of the villagers seem to know what a 
Bustard is, the most ingenious suggesting that it is " Plare " 
