I70 BOOKS ON FALCONRY. 



" hunger-traces." Eyesses, he says (cap. 35, p. 95), should be 

 fed twice a day, morning and evening; no one should be 

 allowed to approach, but the person who has charge of them ; 

 and they should be allowed complete liberty until full grown. 

 This period having arrived, they are taken up in the evening 

 by candle-light, the extreme points of the talons are " coped," 

 jesses and bells put on, and their eyes " seeled " {de ciliatione 

 sen bluitione ipsorum, Lib. ii. cap. 37, p. 67, and cap. 45, p. io6)- 

 The Emperor discourses at length on jesses, swivel, leash, and 

 bell {de Jactis, de tornetto, de longa et de campanelld), and it is 

 evident from his descriptions that these did not differ much in 

 his day from those used at the present time. He also mentions 

 the drawer (now obsolete), the creance, the lure and how to 

 garnish it, the train, or dead lure (made of the skin of a hare, 

 crane, or heron), and the drum, used to make wild ducks and 

 other water-fowl rise. 



It appears that at this period the use of the short leash (French 

 courtrier) for a Goshawk was unknown ; at least the Emperor 

 nowhere mentions it in his work. As to the bell, it is said that 

 it was sometimes attached to one or two of the middle feathers 

 of the tail, and on this account it was necessary to perforate 

 these feathers ; but the Emperor was opposed to this practice 

 (Lib. ii. cap. 41, p. loi). He then describes the proper way 

 to hold the leash between the fingers, so as to carry the hawk 

 properly on the fist, precisely as it is carried at the present day. 

 He disagrees with those who carry the bird always on the same 

 hand, whether right or left, and maintains that it is as well to 

 carry it sometimes on one, sometimes on the other, according 

 to the direction of the wind (Lib. ii. cap. 42, p. 102). The 

 falconer's glove {chirotheca) should be roomy {amplwn^ ut cito 

 posset indui et exui), and made of thick leather {de corio grossd). 

 The falconer's bag {bursa seu carneria) is attached to his belt 

 {ad dngulujn suuni), and serves to carry the lure {tiratorid) and 

 the hawk's meat. 



Alluding to the mode of capturing hawks, the Emperor merely 

 states that they are taken in nets without giving any description. 

 On being caught, the hawk is at once put in a " sock " or linen 

 bandage {maleolum), and is then treated like an eyess. 



Dealing with the training, he observes that there are falconers 

 who neither seel their hawks, nor hood them, thus following the 



