380 FALCONRY 



appears there are two more of such outer edges, and a blow 

 that catches either of the feathers singly will be sure to break 

 it, though the wing, if intact, would have had the strength and 

 elasticity to resist such injury. In this way the mischief that 

 begins with a single feather will spread till the hawk becomes 

 a ragged creature, so much knocked about as to be past repair. 

 A broken feather should therefore be replaced without delay. 

 When a feather is merely bent and frayed it will straighten 

 itself perfectly if dipped and held in hot water. If, however, 

 it is actually broken, it must be carefully 'imped.' The 

 simplest and easiest way to do this is to cut the feather, across, 

 about half-way up, slantingly, and having selected from the 

 stock, which every falconer is careful to maintain, the corre- 

 sponding feather which has formerly belonged to a hawk of the 

 same age, species, and size as the one now under treatment, 

 it must be cut at such an angle as to precisely correspond with 

 the feather in the hawk. An ' imping needle ' is now thrust 

 into this feather (see last page), and both ends are then pushed 

 up till they meet. The needle having been dipped in brine 

 will rust a little and hold so firmly that it would be easier to 

 pull out the feather itself, in many cases, than to pull the joint 

 apart. 



Imping needles are merely three-sided needles, sharp at 

 both ends, which are filed out of soft steel wire ; different 

 sizes must be prepared for different kinds of hawks. Some 

 care is requisite to get them made of the proper temper, as if 

 too soft they bend, but if tempered too hard are apt to be 

 brittle. 



Sometimes a feather is broken so near the quill that there 

 is nothing solid to hold the needle. In such a case it must be 

 mended thus. Cut off the broken stump just where the shaft 

 of the feather merges into the quill, leaving that part only in 

 the bird. With a sharp-pointed penknife slit this quill on the 

 under side from the point where the quill enters the flesh up to 

 the broken end. Having selected the proper feather to replace 

 the broken one, cut its quill into the form of a rather elongated 



