JERFALCON.— i?a!co Gyrfalco. 



struggles with wliicli it would endeavour to resist any advance on the part of the 

 teacher. This object is obtained by giving the bird only half the usual allowance of food, 

 and by steeping the meat in water before the Falcon is permitted to touch it. A leathern 

 hood, which answers the double purpose of blinding the eyes and keeping the beak closed, 

 is placed ou the head, and never removed except at niglit, so that the bird remains in 

 perpetual darkness for ten days or a fortnight. If the liird attempts to bite wlien the 

 hood is removed, cold water is splashed in its face, and if it is very savage, it is plunged 

 entirely under water. By the end of fifteen or sixteen days, the Falcon becomes used to 

 the handling to which it is subjected, and will permit the hood to be removed and 

 replaced, without offering any resistance. 



The next ]iart of the instruction is to teach the bird to pounce upon any object that 

 may be pointed out by the instructor, whether it be a heron moving in the air, or a hare 

 running on the ground. 



The skin of the intended prey is employed for this purpose, and tlie bird is invariably 

 fed while standing on this skin. When it is accustomed to associate the idea of the hare 

 or heron skin with the pleasui'e of satisfying its hunger, the skin, if it be that of a hare, 

 is drawn along the ground, and the falcon encouraged to pursue it. As soon as the bird 

 pounces, the teacher looses his hold of the skin, and permits his pupil to feast on the meat 

 which has been previously attached to it. Next day the skin is placed at a distance of 

 several yards before it is started, and the distance is gradually increased, so that the 

 bird learns to search in every direction for its expected prey, as soon as the hood is 

 removed from its eyes. Lastly, the teacher mounts on horseback, and holding in his 

 hand a long string, the other end of which is attached to the skin, he darts off at fvdl 

 gallop, so that the Falcon is forced to put out its best speed before it can oveiiake the 



