214 . CLASS AVES. 



when he is near the tail, which he then seizes, but without 

 being able to eat it. They present him the wing again, raise 

 the hand, giving the cry of lure {leurre)^ at first in a low 

 voice, and cover him again gently with the hood. This exer- 

 cise is repeated the following day, and, in the evening, they 

 add the presence of a light, to which he becomes accustomed 

 in an hour or two. The preceding lessons are renewed during 

 fifteen days hi the open air, on the turf, taking care gradually 

 to slacken the cord or thong : they gradually remove the lure 

 farther, and, at last, to the distance of 150 or 200 toises, and 

 accustom the bird to the full cry, as it is made in the chase. 

 The ration is all this time diminished, and they administer two 

 or three times a laxative, composed of garlic and absinthium, 

 in an envelope of tow. For two days running, they then set 

 the gerfalcon against a hen, pointing it out at first within five 

 or six paces, and warning him by the cry of lure ; and on the 

 second day they allure him to feast upon it, talking and shout- 

 ing about him the whole time he is eating, to habituate him to 

 motion and noise. The following day, they give him but little 

 food ; and the day after, they lure him at two hundred toises 

 distance, without the string. 



From fifteen to twenty days are employed in instructing the 

 gerfalcon in the pursuit of a prey which attempts to escape, 

 and in the choice of that to the chase of which he is designed. 

 If a hare be the object, they enclose a chicken in the skin of 

 this animal, and its head is passed through a hole made for 

 this purpose : this skin is fixed on a plank, as if the hare were 

 lying on its belly. At the distance of three or four paces, they 

 show this hare to the bird, who goes to it : the pullet draws 

 back its head, but its cries and movements animate the bird, 

 Avho attacks the skin furiously, which is covered with some 

 bloody food to excite him still more. They then draw him off, 

 cover him, and the exercise is recommenced at five or six 

 paces distance. The skin is removed farther and farther on 

 the following days, and to give more motion, they cause it to 



