MOULTING 247 



of the most cosy places in the hawk-house ; and when she sits 

 out at her block he will be specially careful that she is never 

 exposed to uncomfortable draughts or damp or chilly winds. 

 He will encourage her to bathe, in the open air if it is fine and 

 warm, or indoors if the weather is bad, and will, if necessarj'', 

 take the chill off the bath water. He will carry her often and 

 give her tirings, and, in short, make rather a pet of her; and 

 one morning, as he comes up to her place on the screen-perch, 

 he will espy beneath it a big broad feather shaped rather like 

 the blade of a butter-knife. This will be the seventh feather of 

 one of the moulter's wings. Sticking it into his hat, presently 

 to be transferred to a rack on the wall, which will hold the 

 remaining big feathers as they drop, he will then carry off my 

 lady to her quarters in the moulting-room. 



This apartment, in the words of a high authority, should be 

 so "cleane, handsome, and well kept, that your hawke may 

 rejoyce and delight greatly in it." We may perhaps have our 

 doubts whether any hawk would delight as much in the most 

 palatial prison-house as in the fresh air of the least picturesque 

 mountain or forest ; but, at anyrate, a clean, cheerful, and 

 well-lighted room pleases her better than a dismal garret. A 

 well-ordered moulting-room is a somewhat luxurious apart- 

 ment, and cannot be provided without some trouble and 

 expense. It should not be cramped in size, but big enough to 

 allow the hawk at least to stretch her wings in a short flight 

 from one end of it to the other. The walls should have no 

 projecting corners, and if they are hung with some soft pro- 

 tecting stuff it will be all the better. The windows — except in 

 those very commendable cases where the room is lighted by a 

 skylight — will be guarded on the inside by perpendicular bars 

 of smooth wood or cane ; and the floor will be laid at least more 

 than an inch deep with sawdust or dry sand. Fixed upright 

 into the floor will be a block or two, with padded top ; and the 

 room, near its two ends, nearest and farthest from the window, 

 will be crossed by perches, one of which at least should also be 

 well padded. If it is intended that the hawk, or hawks, for which 

 the room is designed shall be left mostly alone in solitary occupa- 

 tion, a bath may be left on the floor ; but, as in any case the 

 bath must be emptied and refilled pretty often by some person 

 entering the room, it may be as well to let the bath, when 

 unused, remain outside, where it can be kept clean instead of 

 dirty. The door of the moulting-room should open outwards ; 

 and it is a good plan to make it close of its own accord by a 



