ABOUT THE KESTREL 95 



than upon his accustomed perch. Two weeks may perhaps seem a short time 

 in which to make friends with such an innately wild bird, particularly as he was 

 a haggard,^ and had got a number of the mature male feathers already through. 



However, so it was, and since it had been decided that ' Armistice,' as he 

 was called, must be capable of catching wild quarry before being liberated, it 

 was next necessary to take him out in the open, and to fly him, attached to a 

 creance or line, to a lure. 



There was never any difficulty about this, for the moment that the lure 

 was produced, at a distance of about 35 yards, he made for it, and flew 

 as strongly and as well as one could expect to see a lame Kestrel fly. Then, 

 as the distance was gradually increased, he, getting to know the game, became 

 keener ; and, as his confidence increased, grew more accustomed to people around 

 him ; and to cattle, horses and the like. 



Of dogs, however, he had an uncontrollable fear, and should one approach 

 him, he would tighten his feathers and sit, slim and upright, with staring eyes 

 until it was persuaded to change its direction. 



But even this aversion was more or less overcome, and whatever his inner 

 feelings may have been he never gave way to them except by sitting very close- 

 feathered and rigid, and perhaps gripping the gloved hand a little tighter than 

 usual. At last, then, the day arrived when he was taken out, freed of his leash 

 and jesses, and flown free to a lure, a distance of about 50 yards. Then he 

 was encouraged to ' wait on ' for a short while — Kestrels will not do so for long — 

 and to stoop to the lure. By this time he was flying as well as the majority 

 of Kestrels do fly ; quite as well as any of the trained ones that I have ever seen. 



But, as has already been mentioned, the Kestrel is a slow flier, and rehes 

 on the ' drop ' from his hovering position to so accelerate his speed as to enable 

 him to catch winged quarry. And since a trained Kestrel wiU refuse to thus 

 wait in the air until the quarry is put up for it, one has to adopt other means to 

 impart the required impetus. 



In the case of ' Armistice,' it was done by holding the body of the hawk in 

 the right hand, with fingers uppermost and his head projectirfg from beneath 

 the little finger, and his legs and tail — or ' train ' — from beneath the thumb ; 

 and by throwing him, at the psychological moment, and with a ' round arm ' 

 movement in the direction of the intended quarry. 



This, at first, he was inclined to resent, but in time he grew to realize that 

 to be held in this fashion in the hand meant that the lure would soon be produced, 

 and that he would partake of something in the way of refreshment. 



Then it remained only to throw him at a sparrow, and to see whether he 

 would be clever enough to take it before it reached cover ; and I must admit 

 that his first attempts were conspicuous failures. 



^ A hawk caught in the mature state (not taken as a nestling) is called by falconers a 

 ' haggard.' 



