J 20 
field for the purpose of pursuing thai which 
is wild. 
When carried out, he is always capped or 
hooded, to prevent him from seeing- any ob- 
ject but his game; and as soon as the dogs 
either stop, or spring it, the Falconer unhoods 
the bird and tosses him into the air after his 
prey. It is then extremely diverting to see 
him wing the air in all the varieties of his 
flight, and to behold him soaring by degrees, 
and repeated springs, till the eye loses him in 
the clouds. He then commands the plain, 
contemplates the motions of his prey, which 
the distance of the enemy deludes into an 
imaginary security, till at last he launches 
upon it with the rapidity of an arrow. 
The Falconer never fails in the first essays 
of the bird to present him with the liver, &c. 
of his prey, as these gratuities, and other ca- 
resses of the Falconer, animate the bird to 
the performance of his duty; keep him in re- 
gularity, and a proper fierceness of temper, 
and particularly prevent him from hearing 
away his bells ; that is, from flying off and 
not returning, an accident which some- 
times happens. 
