FURNITURE AND FITTINGS 43 



perhaps unpardonable offence. To meddle with her when she 

 has a full crop would be a great mistake. A time should be 

 chosen when she has little or nothing in her crop. She should 

 be hooded and held on the fist, while on the " operating table " 

 is placed a cushion and the apparatus required, including 

 tweezers and a sharp penknife. Then a silk handkerchief, 

 once folded, can be thrown over the hawk's shoulders, and the 

 falconer's assistant, standing behind the hawk with his hands 

 over her back, the thumbs close to her back-bone, will, with a 

 quick steady lowering of the palms, grasp her firmly round the 

 body, with the fingers enclosing the sides of her wings and 

 thighs. Lifting her off the fist, he must deposit her on the 

 cushion, holding her down steadily on her breast. A man 

 should be employed for this purpose who is not likely to 

 be nervous or flurried. 



The jesses are made fast to the swivel when the hawk is not 

 intended to fly ; and swivels are of two kinds. The safest (and 

 the most troublesome to put on and take off) is the ring-swivel 

 (Fig. 6), consisting of a double ring in the shape of a figure 8, 

 each end working freely on a pivot which keeps the two rings 

 close together. It is made of brass or iron, and very good and 

 cheap ones are to be had from Mr. Mollen, of Valkenswaard, in 

 North Brabant. To attach the ring-swivel to the jesses, pass 

 the end of one jess from right to left through one of the rings, 

 and, after it is through, pass both rings through the slit in the 

 jess, and pull tight. When the first jess is fast, pass the end of 

 the other jess through the same ring upon which the first jess is 

 fastened, but in the opposite direction, from left to right, and 

 then pass the two rings through the slit as before. The second 

 jess will pull up tight over the first, and both will be fixed 

 firmly at the outer end of the same ring. 



To get the ring-swivel off, the extreme end of the jess which 

 was last put on must be pulled until that jess becomes slack 

 enough for the two rings to be passed through it, or, in other 

 words, for the opening in the leather to be pulled over the 

 rings, and, this being done, it will come away at once. After 

 releasing one jess, take care to hold it tight between the fingers 

 of the left hand while freeing the other jess. Otherwise, if the 

 hawk is fidgety and jumps off, she may jerk the other jess out of 

 your hand, and go off bodily, leash and all, into the next parish. 

 Spring-swivels (Fig. 7) are very handy contrivances for use 

 in the field, but not so safe for a hawk when sitting unhooded 

 on the perch or at the block. They are shaped like the swivel 

 by which watches are usually attached to a watch-chain, and 



