The art and practice of hawking - Modern Prepper

108 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING
perseveres, her superior flying powers will take her above the
quarry. At what time and height this desirable result is
brought about depends, of course, partly upon the speed of the
one bird and partly on the speed of the other. There is a
saying among falconers that a good hawk makes a bad quarry,
meaning that a rook or other bird which might giv-e a fine
flight when only a moderate hawk was behind him very often
makes quite a poor show against a first-rate performer. It
may also be said with some truth that a good quarry makes a
bad hawk, inasmuch as hawks which have flown many a good
flight and killed many a fairly fast-flying rook may sometimes
find themselves pitted against such exceptionally strong ones
that they seem unable to get above them, and give to the
stranger an appearance of being slow themselves.
A good and experienced falcon or other rook-hawk will not
be content with merely getting above her quarry before she
makes her first stoop. She will go on ringing until she is so
far above that the first stoop will be a good one. That is
to say, that she may be able to get such an impetus upon
her in the dash downwards as to rush up to the rook hand
over hand, or, as the racing men say, as if he were standing
still. And, having so run up to him, that she may, if she misses
him, utilise the remainder of her impetus in shooting up again
The rook, on his part, when
in preparation for a second stoop.
he finds the falcon above him, has to choose between two
courses. Either he will persevere in trying to keep the air—and
in that case must trust to quick turns and twists to elude the
foe—or he will adopt the less valiant but almost equally
dangerous alternative of a race to the nearest covert, with the
necessity of eluding a certain number of stoops on the way.
In the first case the flight will become a sort of improved
version of coursing. Improved, because a bird has so much
more varied chances of throwing out his pursuer than the hare,
which can turn only either to the right or the left. He must
always be on what the mathematicians call the same plane.
The rook, on the other hand, may, if he likes, double simply to
right or left. But he may also, if he prefers it, duck downwards
or shoot upwards, allowing the hawk to pass over him or under
him. Or he may turn partly upwards or downwards, and partly
to either side. Thus there are an unlimited number of angles
at which he can swerve away to avoid the stroke.
The art and science of " shifting " is indeed one of the most
elaborate that is possessed by the dumb creature. Almost all
birds cultivate it to a certain degree. Instinct suggests it to