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THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
Heron Hawking.—Of this sport I know nothing personally. It has long since
been discontinued in this country; I believe that the last flights took place in
Norfolk, about the year 1843, with falcons belonging to the late Mr. Clough
Newcome, who then possessed two wonderful Heron-hawks—"De Ruynter," and
"Sultan ;" they each took fifty herons in one season. Prior to this the celebrated
"Loo Hawking Club" flew at herons in Holland, and had grand sport at
Valkenswaard, one of their meets being most graphically described in Messrs.
Salvin and Freeman's interesting book, entitled "Falconry : its Claims, History,
and Practice'' (1859). A cast of falcons were always used in this sport, being
unhooded when the heron was on passage from the feeding-ground to the heronry.
The same heron has sometimes been caught two or three times, and after the
falconer had attached to its leg a copper ring, with date and name of the captor,
it has been permitted to escape. Curiously enough, some years since, a heron
was taken in Hockwold Fen, Norfolk, and on its leg was a ring with Mr. Clough
Newcome's name, and place of capture—" Holland,"—thus showing the great
distances these birds will travel.
Rook-Hawking.—This can only be carried out in very open country, such as
Salisbury Plain, or the more open parts of Cambridgeshire. One falcon is usually
employed in these flights, but now and then a "cast" is used, and the falconer
is always mounted. The hawk is unhooded by the Master or Brother Falconer,
walking by the side of the horse, and keeping out of sight of the wary rooks. At
times a good slip can be obtained when the rooks are in passage to or from their
feeding grounds, but it should be remembered that the quarry must always be
"upwind." It is an astonishing sight to witness the manner in which the rook
can ring into the sky, and unless the falcon begins at once taking wide and good
rings, the rook escapes by simply outflying her; for it should be remembered that
the hawk must always be above its quarry ere the fatal swoop can be made. The
rook's usual mode of escape is to "put in" (i.e., to fly head first into the nearest
fence or bush), and should there be no one up to put the quarry out, the hawk is
apt to soar away, and look out for another rook. At such times, especially if the
day be warm, the best lures will not bring the falcon to hand, and then is the time
for the falconer to keep his eye on his hawk. I have frequently seen my favourite
"Vic" ringing up till she seemed a mere speck in the sky, gradually yet surely
going down wind. As soon as she spots a rook a sudden change is seen in her
soaring. What is known as "shutting in" takes place; her wings being half
closed, the downward rush, known as "the stoop" commences ; at once the rooks
"muster," that is, fly together in a confused flock, seeking any refuge in their
fright. On one occasion they rushed to a small thornbush, which was quite black
with them ; my falconer, however, soon drove out three or four, but the majority
preferred to face the crack of his whip rather than the stoop of the "waiting-on"
falcon, an event which took place the moment a rook faced the open, and a short
flight ended in a kill. On another day, when out in North Norfolk, two rooks
were taken in one flight; the first the falcon "bound-to" in grand style, and the
second rook drove with such force into a thornbush, that when Captain Thompson
took it out, he found that it had been perfectly wedged in by the impetus with
which it had entered the cover. Sheep-folds are a favourite "put-in" for a rook,
and unless the falconer is well "up," the hawk becomes exhausted and dis-
heartened, by making fruitless stoops at the quarry, which easily avoids her by
popping under the hurdles, or into the sheep troughs. In a flight last season, a