little ichneumon flies issues forth, ready to perform the task assigned
them, of keeping within due limits those fell destroyers of our
vegetables.--_Mr. Carpenter--in Gill's Repository._


_Hawking_.

Professional falconers have been for many years natives of the village
of _Falconsward_, near Bois le Duc, in Holland. A race of them was
there born and bred, whence supplies have been drawn for the service of
all Europe; but as there has been no sufficient inducement for the young
men to follow the employment of their forefathers, numbers are dead or
worn out; and there only remains John Pells, now in the service of John
Dawson Downes, Esq., of Old Gunton Hill, Suffolk.

The hawks which have been trained for the field, are the slight falcon
and the goshawk, which are the species generally used in falconry. The
former is called a long-winged hawk, or one of the _lure_; the
latter, a short-winged hawk, or one of the _fist_.

The Icelander is the largest hawk that is known, and highly esteemed by
falconers, especially for its great powers and tractable disposition.
The gyr falcon is less than the Icelander, but much larger than the
slight falcon. These powerful birds are flown at herons and hares, and
are the only hawks that are fully a match for the fork-tailed kite. The
merlin and hobby are both small hawks and fit only for small birds, as
the blackbird, &c. The sparrow-hawk may be also trained to hunt; his
flight is rapid for a short distance, kills partridges well in the early
season, and is the best of all for landrails.