218 CLASS AVES. 



We may see by the system of education pursued with the 

 birds of prey destined to falconry, that the objects of this art 

 are, to teach them to obey man, to bear the hood, to return on 

 the hand from the end of their tether, to accustom them to 

 the lure, to rise when desired, even against the wind, to be 

 ready to drop the prey for which they are trained, and not to 

 carry it off without returning. 



Falconers train the rapacious birds for seven different sorts 

 of sport ; for the kite, the heron, the crow, the pie, the hare, 

 for open fields, and for rivers. Birds of prey, in health, should 

 be fed with beefsteaks, and legs of mutton cut in slices, and 

 the fat and tendinous parts removed. In general they are fed 

 but once a day, but the food is divided into two moderate por- 

 tions during the moulting time : the evening before a hunt, the 

 portion should be smaller than on other days, and sometimes 

 on such occasions a laxative is administered. During the 

 season of reproduction in the month of March, a custom 

 prevailed of making those birds swallow flints about the size 

 of a nut, with the intention of rendering the females unfruitful, 

 and deadening the desires of the males. Such a plan, how- 

 ever, could not be otherwise than dangerous, and detrimental 

 to digestion in birds whose stomachs are more delicate than 

 those of the granivora. The same result might probably be 

 obtained with less danger, by giving them less nutritious or 

 less abundant food. 



In summer the birds of prey are kept in cool places, where 

 pieces of turf are laid, on which they like to repose. A bucket 

 is also placed there, in which they bathe, and if they are ob- 

 served not to do so of themselves, they are taken and plunged 

 in every eight days. The baths soften the skin, and render 

 the moulting more easy. In the evening these birds are fixed 

 on their perches, in such a manner, as to prevent them from 

 hurting each other. Care must be taken to clean their hood 

 very scrupulously, to prevent an accumulation of dirt, which 

 would injure their eyes. A light is left in the place where 



