CHAPTER XII 

 The Sparrow-Hawk 



THERE is so little difference between the training of the 

 goshawk and that of the sparrow-hawk, that it is un- 

 necessary to give any special directions for the latter. But, 

 just as the merlin is a more delicate feeder and a more delicate 

 subject than the peregrine, so it must be remembered that the 

 diet and treatment of the smaller short-winged hawk must be 

 more recherchi than that of the larger. This is more especi- 

 ally true of the musket, or male sparrow-hawk, which is very 

 much smaller than his sister, and is in many respects a kind of 

 miniature hawk. Nothing in the shape of hard or tough meat 

 must ever be given to him. No long fasts, no hardships. He 

 must be always something of a spoilt child. And after he has 

 once been manned, the more he is petted and pampered the 

 better in most cases he will become. As far as my experience 

 goes, he has a better temper, and is more easily reclaimed than 

 his bigger sisters ; but I have heard other falconers express a 

 contrary opinion. Both the ladies and gentlemen, however, 

 excluding exceptional cases, are, for a time at least, about as 

 troublesome creatures as ever wore a good pair of wings. For 

 the first few days after they are captured, or taken up from 

 hack, it seems quite impossible to make anything of them. 

 The beginner, unless he is of a most sanguine temperament, 

 may be excused for despairing of the prospect of ever reducing 

 them to obedience, and far more of ever using them profitably 

 in the field. And, to tell the truth, if he has had no previous 

 experience with a more docile kind of hawk, he seldom does 

 succeed. 



Yet an old hand will tell you that, when taken properly in 

 hand, the sparrow-hawk becomes as trusty and hard-working a 

 servant as man can well wish to have. She will combine the 

 tameness of a parrot with the courage, and even ferocity, of a 



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