48 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



of the ring, which will run freely round the block when the 

 leash is attached to it. Care must always be taken to drive 

 the block well home to the ground, or the leash may get 

 jammed under its lower edge, and cause a dire mishap. 

 Fig. 19 is a little field block which I use for merlins. It 

 can be carried in a side-pocket when out on the open downs. 

 After one of these little hawks has done her day's flying, 

 or before her turn comes, instead of putting her, hooded, on 

 the pole cadge, her leash is made fast to the looped creance, 

 which comes from a ring in the top of the block. The spike is 

 driven into the ground in a sheltered spot, and the hawk is 

 deposited on the top of the pigmy post, where she will sit, 

 if not exactly " like patience on a monument," at least more 

 comfortably than if merely pegged out on the prickly grass or 

 still more uninviting stubble. 



Bow-perches for goshawks and sparrow-hawks may be made 

 by simply bending a length of yew or other tough wood into 

 the shape of an arch, and sticking the two sharpened ends into 

 the ground (Fig. 20). A more elaborate apparatus made of 

 iron, with three spikes and a padded top, is shown in Fig. 21. 

 In any case it is proper to pad the uppermost part of the arch. 

 The ring for the leash runs loosely on the outer frame of the 

 perch. The crutch-like perch shown in Fig. 22 is simple, 

 and has its merits. Probably for an eagle it is the best 

 resting-place that could be provided. When fixing up bow- 

 perches or crutch-perches care should be taken that they are 

 placed broadside on to the wind, so that the hawk as she 

 takes perch on them may directly face the wind. It is perhaps 

 needless to say that for an eagle the spike should be very long, 

 and hammered deep into the ground. 



The hood, or to speak more exactly, the hood proper, is 

 an article of attire with which every educated person is vaguely 

 familiar. The exact shape is shown in Fig. 24. It is made of 

 stiffish leather, fashioned on a wooden block made of the 

 size and shape of the hawk for which it is intended, and stitched 

 together. Some amateurs have arrived at a certain proficiency 

 in making their own hoods. Captain Salvin, for instance, 

 could manufacture very good ones. But such excellent hoods 

 can be obtained from Mr. Mollen, for all sorts of hawks, at 

 so small a price, that it is scarcely worth while to be at the 

 trouble of making them. The hooding of hawks is an art 

 in itself, and will be referred to in a later chapter. When 

 the hood is well on the hawk's head and the beak well through 

 the opening in front, the longer and thinner of the braces at 



