J^ALCONIN^E. 27 



first obtained a specimen of the Alexandrine parroquet by the 

 agency of a ShaJiiii, which ponnced on a flock crossing a glade 

 of a forest in Malabar, and carried one off, but dropped it on my 

 firing at it. Very lately, too, one belonging to me having lost a 

 partridge at which it was flown, took a long, tliough unsuccessful 

 flight after some parroquets it spied high up in the air. One I 

 shot in Travancore just after sunset, w^as busily devouring a goat- 

 sucker it had captured. 



The Shahin breeds on steep and inaccessible cliffs. I have 

 seen three eyries, one on the Neilgherries, another at Untoor, and 

 a third at the large water-fall at Mliow. It lays its eggs in ^larch 

 and April, and the young fly in May and June^ when they are 

 caught by the Falconers. 



The Royal Falcon of the East (as its Indian name implies) is 

 very highly prized by the natives for hawking, and it is esteemed 

 the first of all the Falcons, or black-eyed birds of prey (as they are 

 called in native works on Falconry), the large and powerful 

 Bhyri (the Peregrine) even being considered only second to it. 

 Although haAvking is now comparatively at a Ioav ebb in India^ 

 yet many individuals of this species are annually captured in vari- 

 ous parts of the Peninsula, and taken for sale to liydrabad, and 

 other places where the noble sport of Falconry is yet carried on, 

 and they sell for a considerable price. The Shahin and other 

 Falcons are usually caught by what is called the Eerwan. This is 

 a thin strip of cane of a length about equal to the expanse of 

 wings of the bird sought for. The ends of the stick are smeared 

 with bird-lime for several inches, and a living bird is tied to the 

 centre of it. On observing the hawk, the bird, which has its eyes 

 sewn up to make it soar, is let loose^ and the Falcon pounces on it, 

 and attempts to carry it off, when the ends of its wings strike the 

 limed twig, and it falls to the ground. The birds usiially selected 

 for this purpose are doves, either Turtur risorius or T. liumilis. 



The Shahin is always trained for what, in the language of 

 Falconry, is called a standing gait, that is, is not slipped from the 

 hand at the quarry, but made to hover and circle high in tlie air 

 over the Falconer and party, and ^^■lie.l the game is started, it the i 



