HOME LIFE 171 



times of extra pressure, when every hour in a long day has its 

 full complement of busy work, and times of comparative rest, 

 when the labour is a good deal lighter. But at all times the 

 falconer, if he is to excel, must be possessed of certain quali- 

 fications, either innate in him or carefully acquired, which will 

 enable him to become a favourite amongst his winged pupils 

 and servants. 



Among such qualities the foremost is prudence. A moment 

 of carelessness, or even inattention, may almost every day 

 entail the loss of a valuable hawk. A knot insecurely fastened, 

 a door inadvertently left open, a leash or jess that has become 

 unsound, — all these are examples of small imprudences, some 

 one of which many a falconer will bitterly remember to have 

 been the cause of a catastrophe. Cleanliness and tidiness are 

 virtues none the less desirable in a professional falconer because 

 they were, and still are, a little rare. It is not so easy a matter 

 as it may at first be supposed to keep a hawk-house clean and 

 neat ; and the very first aspect of many such places speaks 

 volumes for the character of" the owner or his servants. The 

 person who has to manage hawks should be gentle in all his 

 dealings with them. He should have the touch of an organist 

 rather than of a pianist ; the hands of a sculptor rather 

 than of a wrestler or quoit-player. Any hurried or sudden 

 movement is offensive and alarming to hawks ; and rough 

 treatment of any kind disgusts and makes enemies of them. 

 Patience and a good temper are quite as necessary to a falconer 

 as to an angler — probably more so, as the difficulties and 

 injustices with which the falconer is confronted under modern 

 conditions exceed those which are met with in any other kind 

 of sport. He must be a good judge of the characters of 

 animals, and of their moods and fancies, for there is as much 

 difference in the dispositions of hawks as of human beings, and 

 no two of them, except by a rare accident, can be treated 

 successfully in exactly the same way. His sight and hearing 

 must be good, for much depends upon his ability to keep a 

 long flight in view, and to distinguish the sound of a hawk's 

 bell in a high wind, amidst the rustle of leaves and grass, the 

 murmur of a stream, or the pattering of rain. 



In the golden age of falconry great weight was attached to 

 the possession of good lungs. The " falconer's voice," for which 

 Juliet fondly wished, was used not only to lure the tassel-gentle 

 back again, but to encourage him in his efforts, and to cheer 

 his successful or brilliant strokes. A modern trainer is not so 



