CHAPTER III 



Furniture and Fittings 



BEFORE the intending falconer takes any preliminary steps 

 even towards becoming the owner of a hawk, he must 

 make himself thoroughly familiar with the necessary appliances 

 which he will have to use, and first of all with the hawk's 

 furniture, or articles of attire and daily use. 



The "jess " (or jesse) by which the hawk's feet are secured is 

 a strip of leather fastened round the leg, just above the foot. It 

 is, of course, of a different length, width, and stoutness, accord- 

 ing to the size of the wearer. For a peregrine or ger the same 

 stuff may be used as for strong riding or driving gloves ; and 

 the softer and more pliable it can be, consistently with strength, 

 the better. For a gerfalcon 8 in. is not too long. For a 

 peregrine tiercel 6^ in. is long enough, and for hawks of inter- 

 mediate size the length may vary according to their proportions. 

 In the case of the smaller hawks, from the female sparrow-hawk 

 to the tiny jack-merlin, the length for ordinary purposes should 

 be from 4^ in. to 6h in. But when a jack-merlin is flying ringing 

 larks late in the season, or indeed at any time, and it is impor- 

 tant that he should carry the very smallest possible amount of 

 extra luggage, his jesses may be made out of a thin kid glove, 

 well stretched and greased, and need not be more than 3-^- in. 

 long, by I in. wide, bulging out to | in. at the place where 

 they encircle the leg, and at the other end, where they are 

 hooked to the swivel. In all cases the jess is attached in 

 the same way. After it has been well stretched and greased, 

 a short slit is made near the broader end of the leather (see 

 Fig. i), and another a little farther down. The distance 

 between the two slits should be about the same as the circum- 

 ference of the hawk's leg — not greater, nor much less. This 

 part of the leather between the two slits is applied to the 

 hawk's leg, and the shorter end, being brought round the 



