CHAPTER VI 



BIRDS TRAINED TO HUNT 



1. The History of Falconry. 2. Types of Hawks. 3. The Train- 

 ing of the Hawks and Their Work in the Field. 4. Their 

 Food. 5. Modern Falconry. 6. Fishing with Birds. 



The History of Falconry 



The art of hunting with specially trained hawks 

 is about as ancient as written history. It is only 

 now, after a lapse of thousands of years in which 

 the sport prospered, that we find it drifting to- 

 ward an eclipse in civilized countries. 



In the far-off days, when game was plenty and 

 the means of securing it few, men were forced 

 to depend largely upon their bows and spears 

 for food. Arrows were both expensive and diffi- 

 cult to make. While they did very well for large 

 animals, a small bird was scarcely worth the ex- 

 penditure of one, and spears proved ineffective. 

 Yet small birds were delicious food, titbits highly 

 prized when they could be obtained. Men there- 

 fore set their intelligence to work. They devised 

 snares, invented bird-nets, and finally turned to 

 birds of prey to do their killing for them. Later 



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