WILD ANIMALS TRAINED TO HUNT 99 



the hips downwards, and edged with lace at the 

 knee ; his hat was decorated with plumes ; and 

 his gloves or gauntlets were embroidered with 

 needlework, and further embellished with spangles. 

 The birds which were employed in England for 

 hawking were the Greenland falcon, the Iceland 

 falcon, the Norway falcon, the peregrine falcon, 

 the goshawk, the sparrow-hawk, the merlin, the 

 hobby, and, occasionally, the lanner falcon and the 

 sacer falcon. For the purpose of training, they 

 were sometimes taken from the nest and at other 

 times they were wild caught ; a nestling being called 

 an ' eyess ' or ' eyas,' and a wild bird being known 

 as a * passage hawk.' The former were allowed 

 a certain amount of liberty in order that they 

 might become proficient in flying and gain strength, 

 and were taught to return to their owners for the 

 food which was given to them every evening. 

 When, however, they began to be irregular in their 

 habits and did not put in an appearance at meal 

 times, it was a sure sign that they had learned to 

 hunt on their own account, and that the hour had 

 arrived for their education to be taken in hand. 

 But before we describe the manner in which the 

 birds were tamed and trained, it will be as well 

 to give a brief description of the various objects, 

 such as the hood, the brail, the jesses, the bells, 

 and the lure, which were employed in their tuition. 

 There are two kinds of the first -named article, the 

 one known as the ' rufter,' which is made of soft 

 cloth or shammy leather, being used when training 

 untamed birds ; and the second, called the ' hood 



