434 AVES— EAGLE. 



make him acquainted with the lure. This lure is only a thing stuffed like the 

 bird the falcon is designed to pursue, such as a heron, a pigeon, or a quail, and 

 on this lure they always take care to give him his food. It is quite neces- 

 sary that the bird should not only be acquainted with this, but fond of it, 

 and delicate in his food when shown it. The use of this lure is to flatter 

 him back when he has flown in the air, which he sometimes fails to do; 

 and it is always requisite to assist it by the voice and the signs of the mas- 

 ter. When the familiarity and the docility of the bird are sufficiently con- 

 firmed on the green, he is then carried into the open fields, but still kept fafct 

 by a string which is about twenty yards long. He is then uncovered as 

 before ; and the falconer calling him, at some paces distance, till he comes at 

 last to fly to it. The next day the lure is shown him at a greater distance, 

 till he comes at last to fly to it at the utmost length of his string. He is 

 then to be shown the game itself alive, but disabled or tame, which he is 

 designed to pursue. After having seized this several times with his string, 

 he is then left entirely at liberty, and carried into the field for the purposes of 

 pursuing that which is wild. At that he flies with avidity ; and when he 

 has seized it or killed it, he is brought back by the voice and the lure. 



By this method of instruction, a hawk may be taught to fly at any game 

 whatsoever; but falconers have chiefly confined their pursuit only to such 

 animals as yield them profit by the capture, or pleasure in the pursuit. The 

 hare, the partridge, and the quail, repay the trouble of taking them ; but the 

 most delightful sport is the falcon's pursuit of the heron, the kite, or the 

 woodlark. Instead of flying directly forward, as some other birds do, these, 

 when they see themselves threatened by the approach of the hawk, immedi- 

 ately take to the skies. They fly almost perpendicularly upward, while 

 their ardent pursuer keeps pace with their flight, and tries to rise above 

 them. Thus both diminish by degrees from the gazing spectator below, 

 till they are quite lost in the clouds ; but they are soon seen descending, 

 struggling together, and using every effort on both sides ; the one of rapa- 

 cious insult, the other of desperate defence. The unequal combat is soon at 

 an end; the falcon comes off victorious, and the other, killed or disabled, is 

 made a prey either to the bird or the sportsman. 



THE GOLDEN EAGLE* 



Is one of the largest and noblest of all those birds that have received tne 

 name of eagle. The length of the female is three feet and a half; the extent 

 of its wings, eight and a half; it weighs from sixteen to eighteen pounds 

 but the male seldom weighs more than twelve pounds. Its bill is th 



1 Falco fulvus. GmEl. 



