“The next cast consisted of two younger birds; and when let loose at another Heron, they flew up to it very well. But the Heron was an old one, and supposed to have been caught before; for the moment he was aware of the presence of his enemies, he began to soar into the air, and set up a loud croak; and these, not so experienced as the first two Falcons, would not attack him, but soared about and left him. Upon this, one of the falconers set up a peculiar call, to which, no doubt, the birds were trained; when one of them, from a very great elevation in the air, immediately closed his wings, darted down to the man who called him, and was taken in hand. This was a very extraordinary manœuvre, and an instance of tractable sagacity. The other Falcon did not come to the call, but sailed about in the air. At length a Heron crossed, and the Falcon attacked it, but again left it. A third Heron also came in his way; this he also fell to work with, and, after a short struggle, brought him to the ground in the same style as the first. This last Heron had his wing broken, and the falconer killed him; but the first was taken alive, and was afterwards turned out before a single Falcon, which struck him down in a minute. I understood that when a Heron had once been taken by a Falcon he never made any more sport. It was the case with this one; for, the moment he saw his enemy coming towards him, he lost all his powers, and made a ridiculous awkward defence on the ground; where the Falcon would soon have despatched him, if the falconer and his lure had not been near at hand. “The Heron,” continued Uncle Thomas, “is perhaps the most difficult prey with which the Falcon has to contend; and it was the skill and perseverance with which it opposed the attack of the Falcon, which gave Hawking this bird its peculiar zest. As it flies very high, it is extremely difficult for the Falcon to rise above it, so as to stoop upon it, in which act birds of this sort can most conveniently put forth all their powers. Even when the Falcon manages to attain the ascendancy its victory is by no means certain. In case the Heron is foiled in this, its most obvious means of escape, it turns its neck back upon its shoulders, and projects its bayonet-like bill upwards, behind its wing, and thus, should its pursuer pounce upon its head and neck, to which the attack of the Falcon is usually directed, it runs the greatest danger of being transfixed upon the long and sharp bill of the Heron. This attitude, indeed, serves another purpose; it protects these most vulnerable parts from injury, and should the Falcon, notwithstanding the danger to which it is exposed, strike at the wing of its prey, and thus disable it, on reaching the ground, the latter is still able to offer the fiercest resistance.