162 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



into his charge, and attaching a line to it he fastened small bells 

 to the centre tail-feathers, and in the autumn hawked Pheasants 

 with it on the moor of Mozu. Such was the beginning of falconry 



in Japan. 



Though there are many kinds of hawks, those used for falconry 

 are mainly these three :—0-taka, or Great Hawk (Astur palum- 

 barius); Hayabusa, literally " swift tuft-hawk," the Peregrine 

 (Falco peregrinus) ; and Haitaka, or Creeping Hawk, in reference 

 perhaps to its crafty habits, the Sparrowhawk {Accipiter nisus). 

 Three other kinds, much inferior, are scarcely ever used for 

 hawking. To catch hawks nets are employed. A large net 

 is spread, and in the middle a smaller net of the kind known as 

 chochin (lantern-shaped, i.e. nearly barrel- shaped) is fixed, in 

 which are placed five or six sparrows at liberty to fly about in 

 the interior. This contrivance acts as a decoy, and the hawks 

 are thus trapped. The best time for catching them is between 

 the great heats of summer and the full spring of the succeeding 

 year. When caught the birds receive each a generic name : thus, 

 a bird of any year taken in the autumn would be called akage, 

 red -plumed [but the point lies in the resemblance in sound of 

 11 aka" to aki, autumn] ; taken from the nest (su), su-taka; taken 

 during the lesser summer heats, after having left the nest, 

 su-mawari, nest-hoverer or brancher, and so forth. 



Taka and Hayabusa are flown at Cranes, Wild Geese, Wild 

 Duck, and White Herons (Egretta candidissima ?) ; Haitaka at 

 Oshi (Aix galericulata, L.), Kogamo (Querquedula crecca, L.),Kuina 

 (Rallus aquaticus), and Hibari (Alauda japonica). These three 

 hawks receive each a different training, but want of space compels 

 limitation to the following account. 



After a hawk has been netted, what is called uchi-oroshi 

 (letting down) is practised. Warm water is prepared, and the 

 tail, plumage, and bill are carefully cleansed from all dirt, while 

 the margins of the bill and the tips of the claws are scraped. 

 The bird is then attached by a leash and tied up in a dark house. 

 During the night the door is carefully opened and the bird 

 calmed ; this is repeated several times in the night. Thus the 

 bird loses some of its wildness, and it is then taken about outside 

 during the night and further tamed. Afterwards it is exposed, also 

 during the night-time, to the dim light of a lantern, and this treat- 

 ment is continued until it loses all timidity, and may be allowed to 



