832 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCLETY, Vol. XXVLl. 



gone, the Peregrine flj^ng away. I ran to the rescue of my decoy and on arriv- 

 ing -within a few feet found the Steppe trying hard to fly off, but seemingly un- , 

 able to do so. He had not been caught in the nooses and there was nothing to 

 impede his flight except the stalks of wheat, against which his wings struck 

 with violence each time he tried to flap them, and I had no difficulty in catching 

 him. On another occasion T tried the experiment deliberately with equal success. 

 Seeing a Tawny Eagle on a tree overlooking a field I dropped a dead partridge 

 where he could get a good look at it, on the road, and then, as if on second 

 thoughts, picked it up and flung it into the field and walked very slowly on, 

 keeping one eye on the Eagle. Sure enough, down he went, and as he disap- 

 peared out of sight, I rushed back and caught him without much trouble. 



Still another simple method, which I have heard is frequently adopted on 

 the N. W. Frontier to catch big birds is to make, a hole in a mudroofed hut. 

 Through this thrust a fowl which is held by the legs from inside. An Eagle 

 seeing the fowl in difficulties comes down and binds and you push through your 

 other hand among the feathers of the fowl and grab the Eagle's leg, while some- 

 body runs up and catches him. 



I have never tried the method, and the drawback to it seems to be the spare 

 leg of the Eagle. Well and good if you can catch both, but if the bird happens 

 to be a Golden Eagle for instance, and one leg only is caught, it would probably 

 end by a claw entering the back of your hand and the point coming out in the 

 palm, in which case it would probably be 3'ou who would let go first. 



Ha^ving first caught your hawk, the next thing to do is to get it back home 

 without injuring some feathers. The simplest method is to have a varied assort- 

 ment of old socks and stockings, from which the foot has been cut off, and a 

 tape run through either end. 



Pass the sock, or rather one end of it over the head and body, until the other 

 end is just clear of the head. Then draw the string over the nsck, fairly tight , 

 so that it cannot slip over the wing joint, and tie the other end, after drawing 

 the string tight over the leg, end of wings and tail and you have a neat parcel 

 which cannot come to any harm, nor do you any harm. 



Failing a supply of socks and stockings, take a handkerchief (for a small bird) 

 and tie a knot in the centre of one side. Now place the loiot directly below the 

 chin of the bird and draw up the ends over its back. Take a point where the 

 two sides of the handkerchief are just clear of the nape of the neck, probably 

 about 2 inches on either side of the knot, a,nd pin the two sides together, taking 

 care that the pin faces upwards and not towards the bird. Now take one end 

 and pass it round the back to as far as it will go down the side and then bring the 

 other end over in a similar way and pin it (a thorn will do if no pin is at hand) 

 over one of the wings. This secures the top end of the bird. Now take the 

 other end of tlie handkerchief and wrap the two ends round the wings, legs 

 and tail and tie a firm knot. 



Having got your bird home put on the jesses, swivel and leash, a rufter hood, if 

 you have one, or an ordinai-y hood will do, then take the bird out on the lawn and 

 tie it to a peg in the grass, where it wont come to any harm by fluttering. The 

 dispositions of birds vary very considerably. One will flutter for a couple of 

 minutes, and then resign itself to the inevitable and sit quietly with drooping 

 head, and may even be taken on to the hand after a few minutes without much 

 trouble. Another again will flutter and turn over on to its back, and grasp the 

 hood with its claws, and incidently get one claw into its gape or mouth without 

 seemingly noticing it, and scream and fight for half an hour. The fighter is 

 generally the one that will settle down better in the long run and be easier to 

 deal with. The quiet one is often a siilker, which will refuse food and sidk 

 generally for sometime. Your falconer will probably wish to sew up the eyes 

 as soon as you get home, but the sooner this custom is abolished the better as it 

 is quite unnecessary. Personally, 1 do not think that there is much, if any. 



