IMPING 381 



pen, running the whole length of the quill, but of course without a 

 nib. Slide this pen into the stump of quill which remains in 

 the bird's body. Being split, it will admit it easily, and the 

 feather can be pushed home so as to exactly replace the broken 

 one. Then take a needleful of waxed silk, and pass it through 

 the double quill just below the joint, whip the silk a few times 

 round the feather and over the joint, pass the needle back 

 through the feather above the joint, and finish off. To mend 

 a feather well in this way requires some skill, but if it is well 

 done, and great care taken that the feather lies exactly right, 

 viz. at the same angle as the others in the wing, it will be im- 

 possible without the closest examination to tell whether the 

 hawk has a mended feather in her body or not. Sometimes a 

 feather broken at the quill is repaired by inserting a plug of 

 wood or of the stem of a larger feather into the quill and merid- 

 ing on to this with an ordinary imping needle, the plug being 

 held fast by cobbler's wax. Of course, for all such operations 

 as these a hawk must be securely held by an assistant. The 

 proper way to do this is as follows : Tie a knot in the corner of 

 a silk handkerchief and throw it on to the hawk's back as she 

 sits on the perch, so that the knot is at the nape of her neck ' 

 and the sides of the handkerchief fall over her shoulders. 

 Take her round the middle with both hands so as to wrap , 

 the silk well round her, and lay her on a soft yet firm cushion 

 on the operating table ; then let the assistant hold her 

 with both hands, confining her legs and wings, his thumbs 

 lying in the channel of her back, and exercising enough pres- 

 sure to keep her from struggling ; the cushion protects her 

 breast from injury and the silk preserves her feathers from 

 being frayed. 



' Coping'' is the necessary shortening of both beak and 

 claws, and is done best with a sharp penknife and a pair of nail 

 clippers. Claws only require to be dealt with in the early 

 stages of training, when hawks are prone to use them to the 

 detriment of the falconers hands. It is also well when two 

 hawks are flown together not to allow the claws to be very 



