HAWKING. 
Lanius excubitor is the "bloodthirsty shrike’s classic appella- 
tion. Excubitor, or sentinel, applies to the bird’s vigilance in 
watching that no other bird savage as himself approaches its 
nest. Falconers take advantage of this peculiarity of the 
shrike to make him useful in the practice of snaring hawks. 
Towards the end of the year, in October and November, the 
hawks are on their passage to the southern and warmer climes 
of Europe; and at this season the falconer can secure the 
most birds. He builds a low turf hut in the open country, 
with a small opening on one side; at about a hundred yards’ 
distance from this hut, a pigeon (usually a light-coloured one, 
to attract the hawk while soaring high in the air) is placed in 
a hole in the ground, which is covered with turf, and a string 
is attached to it, reaching to the hut. Another pigeon is 
placed in a like position on the opposite side, at the same 
distance from the hut. At a dozen yards from each pigeon a 
small bow -net is fastened to the ground, which is so arranged 
that the falconer can pull it over, by a small piece of iron 
attached to the net, and leading to the hut. The string by 
which the pigeon is held passes through a hole in a piece of 
wood driven into the ground, in the centre of a bow-net. The 
falconer has also a decoy -pigeon, in a string at a little distance 
from the hut, and half-a-dozen tame pigeons are placed on the 
outside of the hut, which, on the sight of a hawk, immediately 
take shelter within. The next, and most important adjunct in 
the business, is the butcher-bird. He is placed on a hillock of 
turf at a short distance from the hut, and is fastened by a 
leather thong. The falconer, however, does not sacrifice the 
life of his servant, but humanely makes a little hole in the turf, 
into which the bird can escape when it chooses. Having thus 
everything prepared, the falconer has nothing to do but to sit 
in the hut, and watch the motions of the butcher-bird. Habit 
has sharpened the sight of this little bird, and he descries his 
natural enemy long before the falconer would be able to see it. 
At first, if a hawk is approaching, the shrike exhibits a certain 
uneasiness, a drawing -in of the feathers, and a fixed gaze in one 
direction, the meaning of which the falconer knows well. Even 
when the hawk is at the distance of three or four hundred 
yards, the butcher-bird will scream with fear, and retreat into 
the hole in the turf. The falconer then prepares his decoy, 
and draws out the pigeons where the bow-nets are placed, 
which, by fluttering round, soon attract the hawk, who swoops 
at them, and is caught in the snare. Not only does the 
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