LOST HA WKS 



309 



four or five little snares of catgut, or of gimp, so arranged that, 

 when open, they stand like a series of little wings on a salmon 

 fly, upright, all along the strap, about an inch high. The whole 

 apparatus is next fastened to a pigeon's back by means of double 

 strings round the shoulder of each wing and one round the root 

 of the tail. The strap then fits close along his back among his 

 feathers without impeding his flight in the least, and the snares 

 stand up the whole length of his back and well above it. The 

 pigeon is now thrown out with a long line attached, and should 

 the hawk make but a half-hearted stoop, it is ten to one she 

 will catch her claws in one or other of the snares and be fast. 

 With a pigeon, and a long string attached to her toe, she is 

 readily taken, and we have known even wild hawks to be 

 caught in this way in England, In the East, where they are 

 far tamer, it is almost a certainty. 1 



1 Should a hawk persistently carry any light quarry, the best plan to adopt 

 is to fly another a very tame hawk at her. Both hawks will then hold on to 

 the prey, and the falconer can easily approach. Failing this device, the hawk 

 must either be snared, or else frightened off her quarry, and then taken down 

 in the usual way. 



