ORDER ACCIPITRES. 209 



We shall now proceed to a slight sketch of the practical part 

 of the art of falconry, commencing with the mode of procuring 

 the birds employed therein. 



When it is possible to take the young ones, as yet covered 

 only with down, from the nest, the education of these birds, 

 which are, in the language of falconry, then called niais (simple), 

 is comparatively easy. They have little bells attached to their 

 feet, and are placed on what is termed an eyrie, which, for a 

 bird of high flight, is a cask staved at one end, rested on the 

 side, lined with straw, and placed on a low wall, or a hillock of 

 earth, within reach of the master, with the opening turned 

 towards the east. For a bird of low flight they use a kind of 

 hut of twisted straw, sgi upon a tree of no great height, within 

 reach of the hand. Certain planks are placed near the openings 

 of these, on which the birds perform their first exercises and 

 receive their food . The food consists of beef or mutton, from 

 which the fat and membranous parts have been withdrawn, 

 and which is cut into slender and oblong pieces. This aliment 

 is given daily at seven in the morning and five in the evening, 

 and the bird is excited to partake of it by an uniform cry, which 

 he soon learns to recognize. On those planks, which serve as 

 a table, they always place the food for the high-flying birds, 

 but for the others the food is set on the ground as soon as they 

 are strong enough to descend and re-ascend. Both kinds exer- 

 cise their strength gradually. They first reach the places which 

 are near them by jumps, and then by a heavy sort of flying, 

 which the French call monter a Vessor. At six weeks old 

 they can catch bats, swallows, and other feeble animals, which, 

 Avhen they come near them, are sure to fall their victims. At 

 this period they are deprived of their liberty, being taken in 

 snares or nets, and co^v erect with a thick cloth, that they may 

 be chained down ia darkness. The jesses, which are attached 

 to the tarsi, are manacles of supple leather, to which is fastened 

 a ring and cord, by which the birds are fixed on a log of wood 

 on a level with the ground, surrounded with straw. They also 



