TRAINING 261 



she should be tried by daylight on the following day, and, if 

 she has been carefully handled, no doubt she will feed well 

 enough on hand in a short time in the open air, with strange 

 people about her. She should now be carried as much as 

 possible among strange dogs, children, &c., and her idle 

 moments may be spent bareheaded on a block in some place 

 where she will see many strangers of all sorts, and in this way 

 she will tame herself in a few days, and will eagerly jump to 

 the fist for the evening meal, which she has become accustomed 

 to take there. The next step in her training is to break her 

 to the hood, and this is a most important one, for to be shy of 

 the hood is one of the most serious vices with which a hawk 

 can be cursed. It is hardly too much to say that there is no 

 fault that a hawk can possess which may not be induced by 

 a dislike to the hood in the first instance. It lies with the 

 falconer himself whether his hawk shall be perfect in this 

 respect, and there is no greater test of the skill and patience 

 of the trainer than the way in which his hawks stand to the 

 hood. Not on his own fist. Ke may be an exceedingly skilful 

 hooder, and his hawks may know him perfectly, and let him 

 hood them easily enough ; but a well- broken hawk should 

 stand well to the hood on the hand of any and every man who 

 knows how to use his hood with ordinary skill. To do this 

 well requires much practice and some dexterity : it is hardly 

 possible to describe the process on paper. It should be done 

 firmly, quickly and gently ; no shots or dabs taken at the 

 hawk's head, nor should the middle finger of the hand which 

 holds the hood by the plume be used to thrust the hawk's 

 head into the hood ; but it must be gently placed on her head 

 and a quick movement made of the hand on which she perches, 

 so as to cant her forward, as it were, and let her hood herself. 

 Any person who aspires to become a successful trainer of 

 hawks must practise this branch of his art under good tuition, 

 and should he master it he may be assured that the rest of 

 the business will give him no great trouble. 



But suppose the young eyess to feed well on the hand, to 



