their master. But it requires a very courageous and powerful hawk to hold so muscular a quarry as a full-grown hare, and the instances of goshawks that could do so regularly are few and far between. None, perhaps, have been better at the work than one that was trained in 1891 by Sir Henry Boynton, of Burton Agnes, which time after time captured, in the open, stout old Yorkshire Wold hares. Some of the flights lasted for half a mile, as the hawk, baffled time after time in making good her grip, would renew the chase almost as a falcon throws herself up after her stoop. But the capture of the hare with a trained bird of prey, though a very fascinating and exciting form of sport, must be looked upon as exceptional.
The Bonelli eagle has lately been trained with success by M. Barrachin, a French falconer. In his case the eagle was chiefly used for taking rabbits, but there is little doubt that it could be as well trained to take hares, and on open downs this quarry would well display its sweeping powers of flight, and be worth following up. The attempt is worth making by English falconers who have ground suitable for the sport, and if it succeeded a new feature would be added to falconry in this country.
The only instance of hare-hawking in modern times being regularly followed was that of the sport
