Reminiscences of a Falconer. By Major Charles Hawkins Fisher.John C. Nimmo.
This is the account of an old sport genially described by one of its devoted followers, and if we cannot all go "a hawking," we shall still find much sound ornithological information in the volume. It has become almost a proverb that Hawk does not eat Hawk, but Major Fisher gives us instances of a trained Falcon striking dead and "coolly eating a Sparrow-Hawk," and of another trained Falcon most pertinaciously chasing a Merlin. We also read in reference to the nidification of Rooks that it is believed by many falconers and game-keepers, "and specially by that observant class of men, the shepherds on the Wiltshire downs, that Rooks are not adult and do not breed, and are not allowed by the others to make a nest until they are fully two years old or upwards." We were also not aware that Hawks that have been well entered to game may be lost for a time and be none the worse for it. "Indeed, they may be improved by a temporary restoration to freedom, and forget nothing of what they have learnt."
The author charms us with his sincere love of the sport and its Falcons. After one exciting and successful chase of a Woodcock, the Hawk was not disturbed from her well-earned quarry. The whiskey was served out, "and we drank her health all round. Then we, too, set to work at our lunch, and when this very tame pet Hawk had nearly done hers, I went up to her and took her up, and having replaced the swivel in her jesses, and the leash in her swivel, and cleaned her feet and wiped her beak and kissed her, I fastened her to a stone in a lonely burn close by, and witnessed her bathe and dry herself in the sun, preening her feathers to her and our entire satisfaction."
This should be a sport for our recently annexed South African territories. The Transvaal veld is an unequalled area for the pursuit, birds of prey are plentiful, and the right sort can be easily obtained and afterwards trained. Coursers, Plovers, Sand-Grouse, and Francolins would provide good quarry, and we suggest falconry and this book as its introduction to those sportsmen who will gladly welcome a change of occupation to that which has now so long been dominant in that region.
The illustrations, chiefly portraits, are excellent. It may perhaps interest the subject of the frontispiece to know that he
