11C 
to steal a hawk; and to take its eggs, even in 
a person's own ground, was punishable with 
imprisonment for a year and a day, besides a 
fine at the King's pleasure ; and in the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth, the imprisonment was 
reduced to three months; but the offender 
was to find security for his good behaviour 
for seyen years s or to remain in prison till he 
did. 
The amusement of Hawking is now near- 
ly extinct in Britain. An attempt has been 
made by a few Noblemen and Gentlemen to 
revive this diversion, but, as population in- 
creases, and as enclosures become more gene* 
ral, those rural sports must consequently de- 
cline in which the game is to be pursued over 
a long extent of country; and where, while 
every thing retards the pursuer below, nothing 
can stop the object of his pursuit above. 
We may here observe, that almost every 
kind of Falcon, from the largest to the smallest* 
may be trained for the purposes of Falconry; 
even Eagles have been used in chase of the 
Roebuck, the Antelope, and the Wolf; but 
those principally made use of are the Jerfak 
con, the Gentil-falcon, and the Goshawk, 
