130 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



or Mir-Shikar, was present to-day, an old man 

 with a beard dyed red, a bright eye, and a hooked 

 nose, not altogether in appearance unlike one of 

 his own favourites. He was in charge of the 

 Mehtar's most prized possession, a Shunkhar falcon, 

 one of the largest and rarest of the long-winged 

 hawks, a magnificent bird, but of too little use as 

 a pot-hunter for her ownership to be a matter of 

 envy to people of lower degree, even if this had 

 been possible. These hawks, as a matter of fact, 

 never do pass into vulgar hands, for the Mehtar 

 has the prescriptive right to every one that is 

 taken in his country, as well as to all peregrines 

 and goshawks, excepting the tiercel of the latter ; 

 so all that are caught are either kept in the 

 mehtari mews or given away by him to neighbour- 

 ing princes. Next in order of importance to the 

 Shunkhar came the peregrines, of which there 

 were two, wild -looking, dark -eyed birds, the 

 embodiment of the power of swift flight ; three 

 splendid goshawks, and several tiercels of this 

 species ; some Shahin falcons ; and a number of 

 sparrow-hawks. To be fully representative of the 

 hawks used in Chitral, there should have been 

 included a charkh or Saker falcon, and two kinds 

 of merlins ; but the last few seasons having been 

 bad ones, neither of these kinds had been taken, 

 nor were in any one's possession in Chitral. 



