IMPLEMENTS 



249 



The Lure is a most important instrument in the training 

 of hawks. The chief requirements are : that it should be 

 attractive in form to the hawk, too heavy for it to carry, and 

 convenient for the falconer to carry and use. A very good 

 lure is made of a horseshoe, well padded with tow, and bound 

 and covered with leather. It should be covered over with two 

 pairs of wings, of which wild duck's will bp found to be the 

 best, and strings are attached by which food may be fastened 

 to the lure, on which the hawk may feed. A lure is figured 

 below. 



A good lure is formed of two^or four fresh pairs of pigeon's" 

 or fowl's wings laid face to face, and bound together. The 

 hawks can pull enough at 

 it to be rewarded after a 

 flight, and it more closely 

 resembles a bird, dead or 

 alive. But, as hawks can 

 carry such lures as these, 

 they must be held by a 

 long string, and are usually 

 thrown up to the returning 

 hawk to be taken in the 

 air, instead of being thrown 

 out on to the ground. 



The falconer's left hand' 

 on which hawks are car- 

 ried must be protected by 

 a stout glove. Buckskin is 



the proper material for this, roughly tanned, and it should be 

 sewn double over the thumb, fore-finger, and upper part of the 

 hand, or sharp claws will penetrate. 



A Falconer's Bag, with different compartments for live 

 and dead lures, snaririg lines, &c., is most useful. A pattern is 



' European falconers always carry the hawk on the left hand, but Indian, 

 Persian, Arabian, and other Oriental falconers invariably on the right. Japanese 

 falconers, however, use the left hand, like Europeans. 



Fig. 9. — Lure 



