THE BIRDS USED IN HAWKING 25 



lanner — or for that matter the lanneret, as the male is called — 

 is a useful and deadly hawk. Both sexes will kill partridges 

 freely, not waiting on so often when the quarry has put in as 

 taking perch on a neighbouring tree, and waiting, like a sparrow- 

 hawk, to start from there. The female has also been known to 

 take wild-duck well, and will wait on, when she likes, at a 

 stupendous height. For magpies the lanner would hardly be 

 quick enough. Pheasants can usually be taken by the females 

 at the first stoop. It is said that the Arabs fly the lanner at 

 small gazelles and a kind of bustard, which it stoops at when- 

 ever it takes wing, and without actually striking it, frightens it 

 on to its legs, so that it can be run down with hounds. This 

 bird has the faculty of ejecting a slimy matter from its mouth 

 and vent, which, if it reached the hawk, would incapacitate her 

 from flying. Ringing flights are flown at a bird called the 

 chakhah, resembling a golden plover ; and the lanners which 

 excel at this fetch a price equivalent to ^50 or £60. The 

 Arabs also fly the lanner at sand-grouse and francolin. 



D'Arcussia declares that the sakers and lanners do better in 

 stormy weather and high winds than the peregrine. Neither 

 of them bear the heat well in temperate climates. 



The South African Lanner (F. biarmicus) and the 

 TUNISIAN LANNER, or ALPHANET, are local species, having a 

 more strongly rufous coloration than F. lanarius. 



LUGGER {Falco jugger) 



Female — Length, 17 inches; wing, 13.6; tail, 8. Male — 

 Length, 1 5 inches ; wing, 1 2 ; tail, 7. 



An Indian hawk, rarely found out of the peninsula. It is 

 much used by the natives for a variety of quarry, and does a 

 lot of useful work. 



ELEONORA FALCON {Falco eleonorci) 



Female — Length, about 15 \ inches; wing, 13.3; tail, 7.5. 

 Male — Length, about 13 J inches; wing, 11.8; tail, 6.5. 



This is a hawk of the hobby type, much darker on the under 

 parts, and with a good deal of black and rufous on the under 

 surface of the wings. The feet are at first pale yellow, develop- 

 ing later into orange. The wings are long, but do not project, 

 like the hobby's, beyond the tail. 



This hawk is common on the eastern shores of the Mediter- 



