290. FALCONR Y 



carried on without the sacrifice of two or three pigeons. These 

 should be killed instantaneously the moment the hawk touches 

 them, and all unnecessary cruelty avoided. But as soon as 

 these first stages of the falcon's education are completed the 

 ' live lure ' should become a thing unknown, except in cases of 

 emergency, such as a lost hawk. 



As soon as the passage falcon flies well and steadily to the 

 lure, stooping at it for seven or eight minutes at a time, she 

 should be entered to the quarry at which she is to be flown. 

 It is a very bad plan to keep hawks that are fit to be entered 

 flying on at the lure day after day, for weeks together. Such 

 hawks will become very tame and very handy, but they will 

 lose all that dash which is the special charm of the passage 

 hawk, and will become so wedded to the lure that they will 

 fly at nothing else.' * 



The quarry which, as a rule, the passage hawk alone is 



capable of taking, is the heron ' on the passage ' ; to enter her 



to this quarry she should first be allowed to take and kill a few 



large-sized fowls. If she should seize and tackle these powerful 



birds with determination, she will have no hesitation in binding ' 



to a heron if ever she shall get to close quarters enough to do 



so. After this education she must be flown at a bagged heron, 



first in a string and afterwards loose and at some distance 



■ from her. During these lessons her beak and talons must be 



cut very short and well rounded off", so that beyond seizing the 



heVon she can do him no injury before the falconer runs to 



»save him. Having once ' bound to him ' the falcon must be fed 



' upon some food which she relishes, and after a lesson or two 



of this kind she should be fit to fly at a wild heron. 



Heron hawking, however — sad as it is to record it — must 

 be written down as a sport almost extinct in England. To catch 



1 But it is necessary to observe that the passage hawk must at first only be 

 entered to quarry which, she cannot easily carry (unless, indeed, extraordinary 

 pains are taken to tame her). Otherwise she is very likely to lift any light 

 bird (such as a pigeon), and, though not actually wild at first, she becomes so 

 frightened at being followed with a bird in her foot, which she repeatedly 

 carries, that she becomes unapproachable. 



