256 FALCONRY 



care must be taken that no hay, grass, or woollen material be 

 placed at the bottom of the hamper, or else the young birds 

 will very probably pick up and swallow pieces thereof. Many 

 a young hawk has been destroyed in this way. Young hawks 

 well taken and well sent off are worth about i/. to i/. IQJ-. each. 

 Those taken too young are literally not worth one shilling. Un- 

 less the falconer can thoroughly rely upon the cliff-men who are 

 to take the nest for him, it is well worth his while to go himself 

 or to send a man to see the nest taken. Not unfrequently there 

 is some competition as to which man or set of men shall 

 secure the nest, and in such cases birds are often taken young, 

 and kept, generally in a bad place and on bad food, until they 

 are fledged, and then sent to the falconer as freshly taken birds. 

 Such nestlings as these are the most worthless of all ; their 

 weakly nature, tame disposition, and screaming will betray them 

 at once, and the best and cheapest plan is to send them straight 

 back again to wherever they came from, if, as should always 

 be the case, proper directions have been sent for taking them, 

 and a stipulation made that they are carried out. As soon as 

 they are received, they should be taken from the hamper and 

 placed in a roughly-made nest on the floor of a large loft, or 

 even a shed or coach-house, in the vicinity of which they are 

 intended to fly at hack ; jesses and a couple of large bells should 

 be put upon them at once, and, after that, the less they see of 

 any human presence the better. The object of flying at hack 

 is to get the young hawks wild and powerful on the wing. All 

 training should be left until this part of their rearing is past 

 and done with ; the wilder they get the better, so long as they 

 feed regularly. Food should consist of fresh beef finely 

 chopped, with every other day a new-laid egg mixed with it ; 

 a change of diet should also be resorted to as the birds get 

 older, and freshly-killed birds, rabbits, and even squirrels and 

 rats, form good diet for hawks at hack. All food should be 

 tied on a piece of board (which should be kept scrupulously 

 clean) and placed within sight of the young birds by the 

 falconer, who should show himself as little as possible and 



