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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



^"^^777 



From a drawing by I/Ouis Agassiz Fuertes 



UPPER FIGURE, FlFlvD CADGE ; LOWER FIGURE, SCREEN CADGE, EOR HOUSING FALCONS 



The carrier of the cadge was usually a country boy — a tenant of the owner of the hawks. 

 From "cadger" came "codger," a countryman, and doubtless cad and caddie, both typical 

 Scottish derivatives only slightly different in their present-day applications. 



falcon-catcher first traps his shrike and 

 attaches him to a perch on a little sod 

 mound with a retreat into which it may 

 dive to safety when the hawk comes near. 



The shrike sits quietly on its perch 

 until it sees a falcon in the distance, when 

 it begins to chatter and scold, getting 

 more and more excited as the falcon ap- 

 proaches, and finally actually "pointing," 

 thus giving the trapper ample time to 

 have everything in readiness. 



At the first sign, the trapper retreats 

 into his hut and closes everything except 

 the little peep-window and begins work- 

 ing his tied pigeon and the decoy hawk 

 up and down on the elevated line, to at- 

 tract the wild falcon's eye. 



The actual trap consists of a bow-net 



set some fifty yards from the hut. 

 Through a ringed peg driven in the mid- 

 dle of the net passes the tether to the 

 bait, a live pigeon which is in retreat in a 

 box a few feet away. When the falcon 

 has come within a hundred yards of the 

 trap the "lure" pigeon is dragged out, 

 flapping its wings. The hawk prepares 

 to stoop. At this moment the "lure" 

 pigeon is dropped and dives to shelter 

 and the "bait" pigeon is drawn out of its 

 box into view. When the hawk has 

 struck, the victim and victor are drawn 

 gently into the exact center of the net, 

 which is then sprung by means of a line 

 from the hut. 



The falconer loses no time now. He 

 runs out to the trap, fastens jesses to the 



