CHAPTER VII 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT — MEWS BLOCKS — PERCHES BOW- 

 PERCH BATHING — CONDITION FEEDING — CASTINGS 



IMPING — MOULTING — VARIOUS DISEASES— GENERAL HINTS. 



The first consideration of a falconer will naturally be to pro- 

 vide himself with a ' mews,' or place to keep his hawks in. 

 Almost any stable or loose box will do for this, and elaborate 

 buildings are rather to be shunned. The requirements are : 

 first, that it be well ventilated, but quite free from draughts ; 

 second, that it can be made dark at any time. The best mode 

 of ventilating is what is known as a ' Tobin ' tube, by which plenty 

 of air is admitted without either light or draught, combined with 

 a ventilator in the roof which can be closed. When the pl%ce 

 is made dark, hawks will remain still, and can be left for the 

 night without any fear of their jumping or fidgetting during the 

 early morning hours. The ' mews ' should be kept as dry as 

 possible, and for this purpose one of the little slow-combustion 

 stoves known as a ' Tortoise ' stove is exceedingly useful, and, . 

 though anything like coddling hawks is undesirable, still it is 

 a good plan when they are getting no exercise at all to give 

 .them a little extra warmth, and the stove keeps the whole place 

 Idry. The perch may be arranged in the mews just as is most 

 'convenient to the shape of the building ; a very good plan is 

 place it round the house, parallel with the walls, and not less j 

 than three feet from them. It should be four feet high, and is 

 best made of a rough larch pole with the bark ori it. In any 



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