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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



not be so eager to pursue the game. It might be supposed that 

 the falcon would not be drawn to its master by such deceit, but 

 he comes to know his proprietor very well. Decoys are used in 

 training the birds a piece of stuffed rawhide so fixed as to re- 

 semble a hare or other animal sitting on the ground, or some 

 feathered object which when thrown into the air falls with mo- 

 tions like those of a wounded bird. Falconers further provide 

 themselves with a tambourine to call the bird back, a wooden 

 prop fixed to the saddle and forked at the other end to sustain the 

 arm on which the bird is carried, and perches and cages for use at 

 home. 



As a rule, the smaller these birds of prey are, the more ardent 

 and brave they seem to be. Very small sparrow hawks and hob- 

 bies will attack ducks six times as large as themselves, while most 



of the larger falcons are only 

 moderately eager for the hunt. 

 Eagles, notwithstanding their 

 size and strength, have very 

 little interest in the sport, and 

 have to be very hungry before 

 they will attack game, and 

 then the game must not be 

 very far away, else they will 

 simply look at it with a philo- 

 sophic air calculated to make 

 the hunter frantic. 



The falcons of Africa are 

 competent to capture chiefly 

 hairy game, while of feathered 

 game they are effective only 

 against small birds and young 

 bustards running along the 

 ground. A good Asiatic fal- 

 con, on the other hand, is effi- 

 cient against every kind of 

 game bird except pigeons. 

 Quails are almost a sure prey to them, and they can catch three 

 fourths of the partridges and half the ducks which they attempt. 

 Ducks, if they are missed at the first descent, often succeed in 

 escaping, either by their cunning or by their power of flight. 

 Pigeons are never taken unless they are surprised or have been 

 wounded. In general, the Asiatic falcons have greater powers of 

 flight than their African congeners; but the African birds are 

 more trusty than the Asiatic. They are in the habit of hunting 

 together, of assisting and re-enforcing one another, and will often 

 answer when their name is called. In chasing a hare, for instance, 



Fig. 3. Sparrow Hawk (Accipiter visits). 



