78 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



brought in. She may now be stroked gently with an uncut 

 pencil or short stick, first on the back, then on the breast and 

 legs. Some writers advise doing this with a feather ; but the 

 stick is far preferable. The time has now arrived for releasing 

 her for a while from the hood. But before this is done, she 

 must be taken into a room which is nearly dark, so that on 

 the removal of the hood she can hardly see her way about. 

 The time chosen should also be when she is sharp-set; and a 

 tempting piece of food should be under her feet at the time. 

 As she pulls at it, more light may be let in ; and possibly she 

 will keep at her meal quietly until it is nearly or quite broad day- 

 light in the place. But most falconers first unhood their hawks 

 by candlelight. Then one candle may be first lighted at one 

 end of a long room, when hawk and man are at the other. 

 If all goes well, a second may be lighted, and then the man, 

 keeping a sharp eye on his hawk, may walk slowly towards 

 them into the fuller light. Thus by degrees, taking care not 

 to proceed too fast, or ever alarm the pupil, she may be made 

 tame enough to feed bareheaded even in the open air. 



The old falconers used to " seel " their wild-caught hawks, 

 stitching up the eyelids so as to make them blind ; and anyone 

 who is neat-handed enough to be able to seel a hawk without 

 causing her any pain or injury may find it a good plan now to 

 adopt this system. Then, suppose there are four stitches in 

 each eyelid, on the first day of unseeling the pair nearest the 

 beak may be removed, and one more pair on each succeeding 

 day, till the whole eye is free. But seeling, as a matter of fact, 

 has now gone quite out of fashion in this country. Many 

 modern amateurs also seem to disbelieve in the expediency of 

 waking wild-caught hawks, i.e. preventing them from sleeping. 

 And true it is that this expedient is not absolutely necessary. 

 But one may safely say that a hawk which is waked well 

 directly after it is captured will be reclaimed three or four times 

 as soon and as easily as one which is not. 



I have spoken of slipping the hood on and off a hawk as 

 if it were a thing that the falconer, whether experienced or 

 not, could accomplish without bungling. But it must not be 

 inferred that the operation is easy. Probably it is the part of 

 a falconer's first duties which is more difficult than any other. 

 Even amongst expert falconers it is not altogether common to 

 find a really good hooder. The knack of hooding is only to 

 be acquired, like other fine arts, by long and assiduous practice. 

 For this reason, if for no other, every beginner should try his 

 'prentice hand on a kestrel before he aspires to a peregrine or 



