293 cassell's book of birds. 



antelopes, and foxes, and others trained to go in pursuit of Cranes, Herons, Geese, and Partridges ; 

 Chardin, another eastern traveller, informs us that the Persians trained them to fly at the 

 heads of very large quadrupeds, or even men, and blind them. It would appear that this mode of 

 hunting with Falcons is still practised in many provinces of Asia, and Sir John Malcolm, in his 

 " Sketches of Persia," describes the sport of hawking as seen by him when at Abasheher on the 

 Persian Gulf: — 



" The huntsmen repair to a large plain, or rather desert, near the sea-side ; they have Hawks and 

 greyhounds ; the Hawks are carried in the usual manner, on the hand of the huntsman ; the dogs led 

 in a leash by the horseman, generally the same who carries the Hawk. When an antelope is seen, 

 they endeavour to get as near as possible, but the animal, the moment it observes them, goes off at a 

 rate that seems swifter than the wind ; the horsemen are instantly at full speed, having slipped the 

 dogs. If it is a single deer, they at the same time fly the Hawks, but if a herd, they wait till the dogs 

 have fixed on a particular antelope. The Hawks, skimming along near the ground, soon reach the 

 deer, at whose head they pounce in succession, and sometimes with a violence that knocks it over; 

 at all events they confuse the animal so much as to stop its speed in such a degree that the dogs can 

 come up, and in an instant men, horses, dogs, and Hawks, surround the unfortunate deer, against 

 which their united efforts have been combined. The part of the chase that surprised me most was 

 the extraordinary combination of the Hawks and the dogs, which throughout seemed to look to each 

 other for aid ; this, I was told, was the result of long and skilful training. The Hawks used in this 

 sport are of a species I have never seen in any other country ; the breed, which is called ' Cherkh,' 

 is not large, but of great beauty and symmetry. 



" The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was pleased on accompanying a party 

 to a village, about twenty miles from Abasheher, to see a species of hawking, peculiar, I believe, to 

 the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Hubara, a noble species of Bustard is found on almost bare 

 plains, where it has no shelter but a small shrub, called 'yeetuck.' When we met in quest of them 

 we were a party of about twenty, all well mounted. Two kinds of Hawks are necessary for this sport ; 

 the first, the Cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope) attacks them on the ground, but will 

 not follow them on the wing ; for this reason, the Bhyree, a Hawk well known in India, is flown at 

 them the moment the Hubara rises. As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the 

 Cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that they might look over the plain, and the 

 first Hubara we found afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of the Hawks. 

 She fluttered to be loose, and the man who held her gave a whoop as he threw her off his hand, and 

 then set off at full speed ; we all did the same. At first we only saw our Hawk skimming over the 

 plain, but soon perceived, at the distance of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled Hubara, with his 

 head erect and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adversary ; the Cherkh made several 

 unsuccessful pounces, which were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the Hubara, 

 which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a Bhyree was instantly flown, and the whole party 

 were again at full gallop ; we had a flight of more than a mile, when the Hubara alighted, and was 

 killed by another Cherkh, who attacked him on the ground. We killed several others, but were not 

 always successful, having seen our Hawks twice completely beaten during the two days that we 

 followed this fine sport." 



According to Jerdon, the Bedouins of the Sahara capture large numbers of Peregrine Falcons, 

 and sell them to men who train them to pursue Bustards, Storks, Ibises, and various quadrupeds. 

 The Heron alone, of all birds, seems capable of resisting these terrible assailants, and will sometimes 

 defend itself so courageously with its beak as to drive off the enemy, should the latter not have 

 sufficient experience to seize the Heron by the nape of the neck. In England the pursuit of the 



