THE PEREGRINK FALCON. 97 



As sdoii as the liivd of \nvy is taken, liis legs are passed into very strong manacles, 

 tlic ring of which is crossed by a cord which serves as an attachment, and little hells are 

 hung to his feet. The person charged with training him fortifies his hand with a glove, 

 and taking the bird on his fist, fatigues him as long as possilile in an obscure place, 

 without allowing him to take foofl ; so that, his strength being exhausted, he may be the 

 better prepared for submission. Wheu the bii-d agitates himself very much, and attempts 

 to use Ms beak, cold water is thi'own over the head, and even this is plunged into that 

 fluid. 



When, by these means, the trainers conquer his spirit, which is usually done in three 

 days and nights, they cover his head \vith a hood, which is taken off' and put on, accord- 

 ing as he accustoms himself to take food uncovered, as it is presented to him from time 

 to time. To weaken the bird more speedily, they make him swallow little pellets of hemp, 

 which have an aperient influence. 



Having succeeded in making him take his food easily, they carry him into a garden, 

 where he is uncovered, and shoeing him some prepared meat, which is held a little 

 elevated, they accustom him to leap upon the hand. When he does this with facUity, 

 they place the meat on a representation of a binl, formed by an assemblage of wings and 

 legs, and called a lure, and to which they attract him successively from a greater dis- 

 tance, holding always by the cord. Wlien he has been so trained as to pcamce on the 

 liu-e from the whole length of his tether, they accustom him to know and examine the 

 game which he is destined to hunt. This is done by attaching the game to the lure, 

 and allowing it to fly or run near the bird ; first attached by a packthi-ead, and then at 

 liberty imtil they think they can trust liim free from all restraint. 



'Where it is possible to choose birds for training, the falconers prefer those whose 

 shape is the most easy and elegant, glance the proudest and most assured, toes the most 

 elongated, grasp the most ample, and whose plumage is the deepest, and least chai-ged 

 \vith spots. The education is not the same with the sailors and the rowers ; indeed, it 

 varies accordmg to the species. But, generally, the larger the species, the older the 

 bird, and the more northerly its habitat, the greater is the difficulty of training. 



About thirty years ago, Sir John Sebright made the following statement : — " The 

 village of Falconswaerd, near Bois le Due, in Holland, has for many years furnished 

 falconers to the rest of Europe. I have known many falconers in England, and in the 

 service of different pei'sons on the continent, but I never met with one of them who was 

 not a native of Falconswaerd. It has been the practice of these sober and industrious 

 men to stay with their employers durmg the season for hawking, and to pass the remain- 

 der of the year with theii- families at home. John Pells, now in the service of my friend 

 John Dawson Downes, Esq., of Old Gunton-Mll, Suffolk, and who also manages the heron 

 hawks, kept by subscription in Norfolk, is, I believe, the only efficient falconer by pro- 

 fession now remaining ; all the othei's, whom I remember, are either dead or worn out, 

 and there has been no inducement to younger men to follow the employment of their 

 forefathers." 



Some years ago a day's hawking took place in the fen-country of Norfolk, near a 

 heronry. Towards this the wind blew when the party assembled in the afternoon. There 

 were four couple of peregrine falcons carried by a man to the ground, upon an oblong 

 kind of frame, padded with leather, on which the bu-ds perched, and to which they were 

 fastened by a thong of leather. Each bird had a small bell on one leg, and a leather 

 hood, with an oblong piece of scarlet cloth stitched into it over each eye ; and on the 

 top of the hood a small plume of various-coloure<l feathers was placed. The man walked 



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