CONDITION 373 



by which means any pole is made into a good screen perch in 

 five minutes. 



In training hawks so as to make the best of their powers, 

 the most important matter for the trainer's consideration is that 

 of condition. And this in hawks, as in most other animals 

 from which severe exertion at a high rate of speed is required, 

 is arrived at, by the greatest amount of work which can be given 

 without such fatigue as. results in staleness, so that the muscles 

 may be thoroughly developed and the wind clear, while at the 

 same time the utmost quantity of firm flesh is carried that is 

 consistent with the entire absence of fat, internal or external, 

 more especially the former. Birds, however, lose flesh rapidly, 

 and alter from day to day much quicker than larger animals, 

 and the falconer will anxiously feel the breast and the rounded 

 muscles under the wing almost as often as he takes a hawk 

 on hand. The practised touch will tell to a nicety the state 

 t;he bird is in. Game hawks, as a rule, will fly in higher 

 condition than rook or heron hawks, and peregrines generally 

 in fuller flesh than goshawks ; but individuals vary much, and 

 nothing but experience will teach the falconer the proper con- 

 dition of each hawk. It is always easier to take flesh off than 

 to put it on again, and, therefore, it is better to err in the 

 direction of high condition than in the other. The heavier a 

 hawk is the more strongly can she fly, and the more fatal is 

 her stoop. A wild hawk, whose powers no trained bird can 

 hope to emulate, is generally ' as round as an apple,' but then 

 she has only to fly exactly when it suits herself. It is the 

 essence of the falconer's art to make his hawk fly just when it 

 suits him to see her exert her powers, and, therefore, if at all 

 ' above herself,' she may, though in perfect health, decline to 

 work for him, become independent of lure or call, and even 

 soar away till she is lost to her owner ere she is hungry' 

 enough to obey him. The ancient maxim is a wise and true 

 one which says that ' a fat hawk maketh a lean horse, a weary 

 falconer, and an empty purse.' Yet a half- starved hawk is not 

 worth a rush, though she may be docile enough for anything, 



