460 TO HOOD A HA WK 



To hood a hawk well requires a considerable deal of 

 practice, and some little degree of manual dexterity. 

 The following is the way the operation should be per- 

 formed. The tassel must be held between the second 

 and third fingers, and the hood in the palm of the 

 right hand. Then the hood must be quickly but 

 gently pushed over the head, in the same way in which 

 an experienced trainer slips the bridle over the head 

 of a young and nervous horse. The beak will at once 

 appear through the opening prepared for it, and the 

 hooder's teeth being applied to the button on the 

 braces, the fingers can pull the other ends as tightly as 

 may be required to keep the hood on. 



Hawks must always be hooded when on the left 

 hand, the right doing the work, and on no account 

 should the bird be frightened. 



It is a good plan to give the hawk a piece of meat, 

 and hood it whilst it is engaged eating. If it resists it 

 must be taken into a dark room, where it is an easy 

 matter to hood any wild hawk without frightening it. 

 No struggle must take place, or the hood will never be 

 forgotten. The * brail '^is sometimes used, but I am of 

 opinion that it does more harm than good. Some 

 people wet the bird, and this is a far better plan. (I 

 may as well remark for the benefit of the reader 

 that a ' brail ' is a thong of soft leather in which 

 there is a slit, and through which the first joint of 

 the wing is passed for the purpose of securing the 

 bird.) 



The lure is used in the training of all long-winged 

 hawks, as by its means they are kept on the wing and 

 taken down. A lure may be of any shape, but it must 

 be heavy enough to prevent its being carried by a 



