lALCONRY-THE CATCHING OF RAIVKS AND FALCONS. 831 



front of the decoy's legs, by means of the tapes, which are tied to the back of 

 the legs. The first four or five primary feathers of one wing are tied together, 

 so that the bird cannot absolutely fly away, and is only able to travel 2l;o 300 

 yards, with the help of the." throw " it receives from you. Go well out into an 

 open plain, preferably near some river, and watch your opportunity when there 

 are no big eagles about, and throw up the bird as" high as you can. Before it 

 has gone very far the chances are that some Peregrine, on the look out from 

 some distant tree or stump on the river's bank, will sae your decoy and take 

 the ball and feathers, for a nice little tit-bit and promptly give chase. It will 

 at once strike at the ball with its claws and get caught in one of the nooses. Be 

 careful no eagles are about or you will stand a very good chance of having the 

 poor old decoy, together with your ball and nooses, ca^-ried oS boiily. 



4. There are many other more elaborate devices than the above such as the 

 " Jul," which is a line of vertical nets, placed along the top of a ridge in the 

 Himalayas, each net being glorified " doguzza " and the whole line anythinof 

 from half to one mile in length. These nets are suspended from branches of 

 convenient trees or from poles dug into the ground and are usually fixtures. 

 There should be a couple of feet of net to spare, on the ground. A string bfinof 

 passed through the last row of meshes, the ends of the string are tied to stake h 

 a foot or two off the ground, thus leaving a bag, made by the sag in the net, into 

 which any hawk striking the net, eventually falls and remains. If the net is 

 raised above the ground it does no harm to any thing except to the hawks which 

 it is intended to catch and to owls, but if the lower end touches the ground 

 as it often does, it accounts for more pheasants than it does for hawks. 



A triangle, or three sides of a square, or a square, made by three to four " do- 

 guzzas " placed in position is another common form of trap for hawks. This, 

 known as " kothi," " phutti " or " thatti," and the " jul " are only intended 

 for Goshawks and Sparrow-hawks, and are fixtures. 



In the former no bait is used as hawks hunting in the very early mornings fly 

 very low to the ground, and passing over a ridge dash into these nets. In the 

 latter a pigeon or chikor may be used as a bait, tied to a stake in the ground, 

 about the centre of the triangle or square, as the case may be, with a couple of 

 feet of string to spare. Another string attached to the branches of a tree in the 

 background, or a stake some eight or ten feet high may be fixed up behind the 

 nets and a long string tied to the top of the stake. The string then passes over 

 the bait and the other end is held by the man in hiding some little distance away. 

 Immediately over the bait another bit of twine is knotted to the long puUing 

 string and the other end of it to the bait. A pull on the long string raises it high 

 above the ground and Ufts the bait with it, making it flutter violently and attract- 

 ing the attention of some passing hawk, which dashes head long into one of the 

 nets. 



The bow-net, as used by the old Dutch falconers of Valkenswaard, is not often 

 used in India for hawks, nor is the draw-net, though both these devices are 

 well known to bird catchers generally and used for catching other kinds of birds 

 such as Sandgrouse, pigeons, starlings, etc. 



The simplest method of the lot, given the conditions and a bit of luck, needs 

 neither nets nor nooses, and was discovered by the writer quite by chance and 

 consists of nothing but a well grown wheat field. 



I cannot vouch for it always acting, but I have found it most successful on 

 more occasions than one, with Steppe and Tawny Eagles. 



On one occasion I had thrown up a decoy (A White-eyed Buzzard-Eagle) 

 with a ball and nooses attached to its legs, for a Peregrine, and the bird landed 

 in the midst of a heavy wheat field, with the Peregrine in full pursuit. A Steppe 

 Eagle arrived unexpectedly and went down into the field where the decoy had 



