HUNTING AND HAWKING IN PERSIA. 219 



the delight of the late King of Persia, Aga Mahomed Khan, 

 whose taste is inherited by the present Sovereign. 



The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was 

 pleased, on accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles 

 from Abusheher, to see a species of hawking, peculiar, I believe, 

 to the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Hubara,* a noble 

 species of bustard, is found on almost bare plains, where it has no 

 shelter but a small shrub called geetuck. When we went in 

 quest of them we had a party of about twenty, all well mounted. 

 Two kinds of hawks are necessary for this sport ; the first, the 

 cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope), attacks them on 

 the ground, but will not follow them on the wing ; for this reason, 

 tne Bhyree, a hawk well known in India, is flown the moment the 

 hubara rises. 



As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the 

 cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that 

 they might look over the plain. The first hubara we found 

 afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of 

 the hawks ; he fluttered to be loose, and the man who held him 

 gave a whoop, as he threw him ofT his hand, and set off" at full 

 speed. We all did the same. At first we only saw our hawk 

 skimming over the plain, but soon perceived, at a distance of 

 more than a mile, the beautiful speckled hubara, with his head 

 erect, and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adver- 

 sary. The cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which 

 were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the' hubara, 

 which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a bhyree was 

 instantly flown, and the whole party were again at full gallop. 

 We had a flight of more than a mile, when the hubara alighted, 

 and was killed by another cherkh, who attacked him on the 

 ground. This bird weighed ten pounds. We killed several 



* The Hubara usually weighs from seven to eleven pounds. On its head is a 

 tuft of black and white feathers; the back of the head and ueck are spotted black; 

 the side of the head and throat are whit, as well as the under part of the body ; 

 the breast is shite-colored ; the feathers of the wing are greenish-brown, speckled 

 with black ; the bill of a very dark-grey ; nnd on each side of the neck is a large 

 and handsome tuft of feathers, black and white alternately. 



