110 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



FIERCE YELLOW EYES GLARE AT HUMAN INTRUDERS 



The young Cooper's hawks, a male (left) with his somewhat larger sister, have 

 just left the nest, though their tail feathers are not yet half grown. These birds 

 often fly for some time before they are fully feathered, and seem to develop more 

 strength than do many other species at the same age. The two shown challeng- 

 ing the camera were caught and trained by the Craighead boys. 



male" — bigger, stronger, more spirited, and 

 hence far better adapted for use in falconry. 



Comfortably established in a cloth-cano- 

 pied basket, first under the stove and later 

 in the cellar, our two little hawks devoted 

 themselves to the business of eating and 

 growing feathers. By the time they began 

 to jump up on the edge of the basket and 

 act restless, we knew they were almost 

 ready to train. 



It is important not to begin training too 

 soon, however. The first step is teaching 

 the bird to come to the hand for food, and 

 it is necessary that the hawk be hungry — 



not starved, of 

 course, but pos- 

 sessed of a good, 

 healthy appetite. 

 If training is 

 started before the 

 feathers are all 

 grown out, "hun- 

 ger streaks" will 

 appear in the 

 plumage and the 

 bird's flying abil- 

 ity will be im- 

 paired. 



Our hawks were 

 well fed on beef 

 and liver, with 

 finely ground 

 greenbone to 

 keep them from 

 getting rickets, 

 and an occasional 

 mouse, starling, 

 or sparrow. 



TRAINER MUST 



AVOID SCARING 



THE BIRDS 



About three 

 weeks after we 

 had brought our 

 birds home we 

 were able to be- 

 gin their actual 

 training. The 

 first step was to 

 fasten to the legs 

 the leather straps, 

 about six inches 

 long, called 

 jesses ; to these a 

 leash was a t - 

 t a c h e d (page 

 114). It is im- 

 portant not to scare the hawks by any 

 abrupt movement, as they may become 

 chronically timid and nervous. 



We spent more time training those first 

 hawks than we gave to half a dozen later 

 ones. We carried the fierce, untamed birds 

 on our gloves for several hours each day, 

 then took them out again after dark, when 

 they perched more quietly on our wrists. 

 Teaching the birds to come to the hand 

 for food was the next step. Standing a 

 few feet from the perching hawk, one of 

 us would hold out his gloved hand with a 

 piece of meat on it and whistle for the bird 



