FALCONRY, THE SPORT OF KINGS 



43^ 



From a drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 



BLOCKS AND PERCHES, FOR "WEATHERING" HAWKS 



The falcons are all rock-dwellers by nature and are most comfortable when perched 

 on a flat surface; hence blocks are used, with a swivel to prevent the leash from getting 

 tangled up. The short-winged forest hawks, like the Goshawk and Sparrowhawk, have 

 enormous claws, which are greatly in the way on a flat surface, and are therefore weathered 

 on slender "bow" perches. The T-perch is used for eagles. 



hawk's legs, and puts a sock over his 

 captive's head and body with as little fuss 

 and excitement as possible — an operation 

 calling for great skill and dexterity. The 

 captured hawk is then hurried to the hut 

 and laid on its back and all is made ready 

 for another attempt. 



The training of a haggard hawk is in 

 many respects similar to that of an eyess, 

 but with this vast difference: the eyess, 

 taken young and with no fear or hatred 

 of man, requires simply to be led to do 

 the will of its master, whereas the hag- 

 gard has to be redeemed by patience and 

 kindness from a state of fierce enmity 

 and suspicion into one of complete docil- 

 ity and submission, and has to unlearn all 

 the teachings of its experience and in- 

 stinct and learn the will of its new master. 



The trainer takes his new hawk to the 

 loft and there removes the sock, replac- 

 ing it with a soft rufter hood. 



It would take too long to tell in detail 

 all the many difficulties that lie before the 

 falconer; but, with no accidents and 

 much skill, patience, and understanding, 

 a fully adult haggard peregrine may be- 

 come accustomed to the presence of man 

 and his works in a fortnight. This is ac- 

 complished by requiring the newly caught 



hawk to sit for hours and hours upon the 

 hand and by depriving it of any chance 

 to go to sleep until it is thoroughly recon- 

 ciled to the new condition. It is then 

 gradually allowed more light and more 

 ease and rewarded with food as its docil- 

 ity progresses. 



In some respects it is easier to train 

 the haggard than the eyess to hunt, for 

 the former has long killed for itself, 

 while the food of the eyess has been fur- 

 nished by its master. Eyesses are usually 

 more tractable and run truer to "form," 

 but the haggard almost invariably has 

 vastly more dash and style than its house- 

 bred loft-mate. 



The style of action and methods of 

 hunting are so different with the long- 

 winged hawks and their short-winged 

 cousins that they had best be considered 

 separately. 



THE "long-wings" ALWAYS ATTACK IN 

 THE AIR 



The "long-wings," or falcons proper, 

 by nature strike their prey in the air, 

 killing it clean by the direct blow they 

 deliver at the end of their "stoop." They 

 battle for position in the air, attaining 

 their "pitch," or position above their 



