Page:The New Monthly Magazine - Volume 097.djvu/313

Rh It is undoubtedly very picturesque to read of knights riding out with hawk on fist, and knight's lady on fiery jennet, with merlin clasping her embroidered glove, the look of the thing, the pomp of its apparatus, and the antique costume impart a kind of black-letter interest to the good old sport; there was excitement, also, in witnessing the combined working of horses, hawks, and hounds, but we doubt if of the kind well suited to "ladye fair." The effect upon the temper of the Ameers of Scinde appears to have been anything but agreeable. A sparrow-hawk had been thrown at a pigeon.

Falconry, as a partial sport, is, however, well worthy of preservation, more so than the situation of a grand falconer without falcons. The enclosed state of our country makes it objectionable for the peregrine, which cannot be easily followed; but the goshawk can be followed at a hand-canter, and Mr. Barker tells us that there is at the Zoological Gardens a precious and beautiful specimen of the Australian goshawk, which is perfectly white, with eyes the colour of bright rubies, and which he thinks would, from its large hands and small body, be swifter in flight, and, on the whole, a more efficient bird than our goshawk. "It forms," says Mr. Barker, "in my opinion, the beau-ideal of perfection in a hawk. I consider it worthy of a princely hand, and should be happy to see his Royal Highness Prince Albert patronise the training of this bird to afford amusement to our young Prince of Wales."