Long-winged hawks are, of course, less troublesome to reduce to orderly habits after the moult than sparrow-hawks or goshawks. But then they require longer to get into wind. For this purpose they must be called off to longer and longer distances, and made to stoop hard at the lure. At first their flight will be very heavy, and their desire to mount nonexistent. After a minute's stooping at the lure they will have their mouths open. It will perhaps be quite difficult to keep them on the wing. But they must not be excused; and the much-enduring trainer must have the patience to wait, swinging the lure until it pleases my lady to come to it, and be keen in the cause. It is altogether impossible to say how long it will be from the time when she is taken out of the moulting-room to the day when she can take the field once more. A haggard, dosed successfully, and dieted with lucky precision, may surprise you by getting fit quite quickly, whereas an eyess which you expected to bring into fettle in a few days may prove more restive than she did when taken up from hack. There is luck as well as skill in the treatment of each hawk. But carrying is the _sine quâ non_; and the more a man carries his hawk the better chance he has of observing how his treatment works, and whether it should be modified in one way or another. The best hawks, when well moulted, will often become even better the next year; and there is no reason why a moderate or even a poor hawk should not improve. Newly-moulted hawks should not be brailed, nor allowed to be bareheaded in any place where they are likely to bate. And of course great care will be taken for some little time that they are not left in a damp or draughty place or in the rain. CHAPTER XVIII Virtue and Vice