ACCIDENTS AND MALADIES 239 



possible, but when it goes off she should be carried, and even 

 flown a little, if she will ; and she should by no means be left 

 alone in any dismal place without company. When her atten- 

 tion is occupied she will have less inclination to mope or give 

 way to the malady, and is much more likely to improve. If 

 the affection is obstinate and the hot fits frequent, about two 

 scruples of rhubarb may be given (for a falcon) in a casting 

 of cotton wool, followed after two or three hours by a moderate 

 meal of something freshly killed and light. If, however, the 

 shivering fits predominate, or the hawk has become low in con- 

 dition and has a poor appetite, the dose must be administered 

 with caution and in moderation, and the patient should be 

 coaxed and induced to take as much as she will, up to half a crop, 

 of some heating food, such as freshly-killed sparrows, which are 

 best of all, pigeons, or, in case of a goshawk, young rats ; and if 

 at a subsequent meal a sheep's heart is given (which such hawks 

 can very easily pick at) it may be washed in wine in which has 

 been boiled sage, mint, cinnamon, cloves, or some such aromatic 

 herb. In all cases the invalid must be petted and made much 

 of until she has regained her robust health and appetite. 



Apoplexy is no doubt the disorder most commonly fatal to 

 trained hawks of the short- winged varieties. It was called by 

 the ancients the falling evil, and it has carried off quite suddenly 

 many a first-rate goshawk almost without any warning at all. 

 And it is probably more to be feared in these days when the use 

 of washed meat has been so generally abandoned. The cause of 

 this effusion of blood on the brain is over-fulness of body or an 

 accumulation of internal fat ; and in order to guard against it 

 care should be taken to avoid overfeeding a hawk with strong, 

 heating, or fattening viands. Merlins are also very subject to 

 apoplexy when short of exercise, and peregrines are by no 

 means exempt from it. When any hawk is fat or full-blooded, 

 any exposure to a hot sun, or any violent or unaccustomed exer- 

 cise, or bating off and hanging head downwards, may cause a 

 determination of blood to the brain ; and death will follow without 

 the chance of even attempting a cure. It is well, therefore, 

 especially when any hawk is not taking daily exercise, and 

 plenty of it, not only to avoid overfeeding, but also from time 

 to time to give a purge and an emetic. One of the simplest 

 prescriptions is lard or butter, well washed, and then steeped in 

 rose-water, and given with a little powdered sugar. 



Apostume of the head is called by Turbervile a " monstrous 

 accident," and a "very grievous evil," and said by him to be 



