238 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



in men induce a cold in the head or throat, — a chill caused 

 by sudden changes of temperature, excessive cold, or, most 

 frequently of all, excessive damp. The remedy is to put the 

 sufferer in a warm and dry place, and to give the most palat- 

 able and nourishing food in moderate quantities at reasonably 

 short- intervals, with a peppercorn or mustard - seed now and 

 then. Freshly-killed birds are the best diet ; but if sheep's heart 

 or butcher's meat is given, it should be first warmed a little. 

 The hawk should not be left out of doors after midday, or in 

 a place exposed to the wind. Strangely enough, gers, whose 

 habitat is in more northern latitudes than any other hawks, 

 are the most susceptible of all to this malady ; and special care 

 should be taken, therefore, that they are not allowed to be in 

 damp or draughty places. 



Cramp is a terrible disorder, also caused by damp or cold. 

 It is specially apt to attack the short- winged hawks, and is, I 

 believe, always fatal. Eyess sparrow-hawks taken too early 

 from the nest are pretty sure to develop it when there is no 

 maternal wing to cover them at night. Possibly by keeping 

 them in an artificial nest in a warm place the mischief might be 

 averted ; but the slightest chill seems to bring it on, and when 

 once it takes hold of the feet and legs it appears to paralyse 

 and permanently disable them. Beginning with a mere stiff- 

 ness in the joints, it increases in malignity until the sufferer 

 loses the use of one or more limbs, and then often paralyses the 

 muscles of the back. When the very first symptoms of any- 

 thing like stiffness appear in a goshawk or sparrow-hawk, no 

 matter of what age, she should be taken at once into quite a 

 warm place, and the affected limb fomented with hot water and 

 embrocations. Unless these remedies speedily give relief the 

 most humane thing to do is to put the hawk out of her misery at 

 once. In this matter not only is prevention better than cure, 

 it is the only means known of combating the dreaded disease. 



Ague, or a low fever nearly resembling it, attacks hawks 

 much in the same way as human beings. There are shivering 

 fits and alternations of hot and cold, which may be discovered 

 by feeling the body with the hand. The cause is often ex- 

 posure to cold after becoming heated by flying or standing 

 in the sun, or confinement in a draughty or cold place. The 

 sufferer droops her wings, and looks miserable generally. She 

 should be put in a sheltered place, rather warm than cold, and 

 fed often, sparingly, on the best light food that is to be had. 

 When the hot or cold fit is on she should be left as quiet as 



