180 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



she should be hooded just before or after she has finished her 

 meal ; and on returning home she should be put in a quiet place 

 — either on a block where nothing can interfere with her, or on 

 the screen-perch ; and if given to bating off, she should remain 

 hooded, or else in a darkened room, till nightfall. No hawk 

 should be allowed ever to finish her meal within sight of another 

 that is still hungry, or to be in a place where she can see a lure 

 or any sort of food without being able to get at it. At no time 

 should a hawk be pegged out in a position where she is exposed 

 to a strong wind, or to a hot sun, except just before and for a 

 while after her bath. Never should food be dragged or pulled 

 away forcibly from a hawk, leaving her hungry on the fist or 

 perch with nothing to eat. The falconer must play the part 

 of a friend, and of a generous friend, not of a niggardly and 

 tyrannical master, who makes use of his superior strength to 

 rob his servant of the good things which she expected to enjoy. 



In summer, when the weather is fine and the ground tolerably 

 dry, peregrines, hobbies, and some of the hardiest of the big 

 hawks may be left all night at their blocks on the grass. But 

 the advantages, if any, resulting from such a plan are, I think, 

 more than questionable. It is argued, of course, that wild hawks 

 sleep in the open air, and therefore why not trained ones? 

 But the wild hawk chooses his or her resting-place — almost 

 always a tall tree or rock — far out of reach of the dews and 

 mists which belong to the grass and the lower air. If the wild 

 hawk gets wet, or feels cold at midnight, she has only the elements 

 or herself to blame. If the trained hawk suffers, will she not 

 blame the man who tied her down in a position where she could 

 not escape from these discomforts ? A perfectly clean and well- 

 aired hawk-house is, to my mind, as good a place for hawks 

 to sleep in as the finest lawn on the fairest night of the year. 

 What good does a hawk get from bating at the block on to the 

 wet grass from 3 or 4 a.m. till the falconer appears? If wild 

 hawks did this, instead of keeping aloft in the clear air, would 

 they not be likely sometimes to get the croaks ? 



I have reserved till as late a place as this the question of 

 dieting, the most difficult, if not the most important, part of the 

 falconer's art. Condition in a trained hawk, as in a trained 

 horse or hound, is the most essential requisite for really great 

 success. Without it the very best hawk will make but a poor 

 show ; and with it even a naturally slow hawk can be flown 

 with pleasure and credit. Condition must always depend 

 chiefly upon two things, exercise and dieting. Now, as regards 



