246 ART AND PRACTICE OF HAWKING 



that they should be pitted against hawks which are either 

 young themselves or else have to take the air with shortened 

 sail. 



Many modern falconers, abandoning all attempts to fully 

 moult their hawks in time for the game season, fly them 

 irrespectively of the condition in which their feathers may be. 

 That is to say, instead of shutting up their hawk, as the old 

 falconers commonly did, when she drops the first feather, and 

 keeping her inactive in the mews until the last new one has 

 come down, they simply go on giving her her daily exercise 

 just as if nothing had happened, and almost, if not quite, ignore 

 the moult. It is wonderful how well some hawks acquit them- 

 selves under such disadvantageous conditions, and how little 

 difference to a really fast and clever flyer is made by the loss 

 of even two of the biggest feathers in each wing. On the other 

 hand, a slow hawk, especially if she is not over-gifted with 

 brains, so as to be able to make her head save her wings, is 

 apt to cut rather a poor figure when flown in the middle of the 

 moult at grouse. One of the chief drawbacks incident to this 

 plan — especially with peregrines — is that when flying hard they 

 often moult so badly. Full feeding — or rather overfeeding — is 

 necessary to many trained hawks if they are to moult fast and 

 well; and, of course, when expected to fly in the field they 

 cannot exactly be overfed. Well fed, even to the verge of 

 excessive generosity, they must be, or the new feathers will 

 come down narrow and weak, or even the moult may cease. 

 But to overfeed a passage hawk before putting her up to wait 

 on, is to court the loss of her. Consequently the falconer who 

 flies grouse with a falcon in the moult is confronted with an 

 awkward dilemma. If he keeps his hawk sharp-set he is quite 

 likely to see her leave off moulting, at least for a time, beginning 

 again perhaps later on, and thus protracting the moulting season 

 to an unconscionable length. If, on the other hand, he attempts 

 to keep her fat, he may be pretty sure that she will be dis- 

 obedient and slow at coming to the lure, and he will be 

 tormented by a constant fear that she will despise it altogether 

 and choose her own place in which to moult at liberty. 



Suppose, however, that the falconer, having flown his eyess 

 through the game season or his passage hawk through the rook- 

 hawking season, desires to get her into moult as quickly as 

 possible and through it without delay. While still flying her to 

 the lure for exercise he will take care that she is bountifully 

 dealt with in the matter of rations, He will reserve for her one 



