Nov. 11, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



803 



falcon has beon known to snatch a large fowl from before 

 the very door of a dwelling house, and carry it off bodily. 

 To the smaller species of the order, OaUi7ia', it is a fierce 

 and determined enemy. The nearly allied juggur of 

 India is flown mainly at crows, in the piu'suit of which 

 it shows miicli B])eed and daring, following the croAV 

 through all its twists and windings. It has even been 

 known to kill its quarry so near to a camp-fii-e that the 

 feathers of the falcon' were singed by the blaze. The 

 lanier is said to have been formerly flown at the kite in 

 Europe; i^robably only very strong females could take 

 this strong and difficult quarry. 



But little is known of the breeding habits of the prairie 

 falcon; the 1 aimers of Asia and Europe build their nests in 

 the tops of the tallest trees and occasionally oh cliffs; and 

 it is probable that the American species resembles them 

 in habits. The ground color of the eggs is I'ich cream, 

 which is handsomely marked witb splashes of chestntit- 

 red and jjurplish shadings. The extreme average length 

 of the egg's is 2,',, in. 



The lamiers of the Old World are easy to train, obedi- 

 ent in the field and bold and enduring in the pursuit of 

 game; there is no doubt that their American representa- 

 tive would at least equal, if not exceed, them in powers. 

 A female would doubtless take buzzards, ravens and 

 crows, as well as cranes, hai'es and grouse, while a tiercel 

 would probably be a full match for any of the Tett'aoni- 

 dce or the genus Lepus found on the plains. 



The lanier is a true falcon, a "long- winged hawk," and 

 its training, whether taken as a haggard or as an eyas, is 

 precisely like that, proper to peregi-ines or gyrfalcons, de- 

 scribed In a previous paper. 



Thoroughly trained falcons of any species seldom need 

 to wear a' hood, except when being carried to the hunting 

 field, as it is important that they should see as much as 

 possible of horses, dog^s and men, as well as become ac- 

 customed to all sorts of lights and sounds, which of course 

 they arc prevented from doing by the hood. The block 

 of a well tamed falcon may be left out on the lawn — 

 sheltered from the sun by being j)laced under a tree in 

 very warm weather — throughout the summer on clear 

 days, but the hawks require protection from heavy rain 

 storms. Peregrines and gyrfalcons may be kept mider 

 an open shed throughout the winter, but must be pro- 

 tected carefully from wet and high winds. The lanier 

 would probably require the protection of an outliouse 

 dm'iug the cold months in this climate (Pennsylvania). 

 In very severe weather all falcons require the shelter of 

 an outhouse or stable, which is best kept nearly dark or 

 the birds will bate very much and injure their feathers. 

 The block wherever placed should be surrounded with a 

 layer of fine sand, which is to be frequently removed. In 

 moving hawks with then blocks from one position to an- 

 other, call the bird to your wi-ist and give him the wing 

 of a bird or a small piece of gristly meat to tear at; the 

 block is then easily carried in the other hand by the ring 

 let into its top to any desired position and the hawk re- 

 placed upon it without the trouble of hooding, or even 

 untying him from the blosk. 



Falcons after being properly "entered" may be flown at 

 game three or four limes a week, and when not htmted 

 must be allowed to Icill at least one strong pigeon on the 

 wing each week. Powerful birds may even be flown six 

 times a week, but it is difficult to keep them in fine con- 

 dition and yet daily "sharp set" and in proper condition 

 for hunting when so used. 



Should a hawk be lost it may be captured with the low 

 net and a live pigeon if very wild, A better plan is to 

 allow it to kill a pigeon, which has been pegged down 

 with 6 or 8yds. of free line attached to its leg. Approach 

 when the hawk has killed; he will fly up if wild enough 

 to have been lost; pull some long feathers from the wings 

 of the dead pigeon, stick them in the ground around the 

 prey in the form of a circle, and place around outside 

 them a slip noose of soft cord. Go off with your end of 

 tbe cord a dozen yards or more; the falcon will then re- 

 turn to the pigeon, and may be caught by jerking the 

 noose over his feet, the pigeon quills causing it to run up 

 freely and high on the hawk's legs, so as to catch him 

 firmly over the bells. It is well to -peg down the freslily 

 killed pigeon, or the falcon may stoop and caiTy it off 

 before you have time to jerk the snare over his legs. The 

 live lure ought always to recover a well-trained hawk, 

 however, if by any accident he be lost, and is too well 

 gorged to care for the artificial lure or dead pigeon. 



During their training hawks frequently break one or 

 more of their pinion feathers, and these it is necessary to 

 replace by imping before the falcon is flown at wild and 

 difficult quarry, as the loss of even a single feather will 

 greatly impair the bird's power of flight. Never on any 

 account pull out a broken feather, or the one which re- 

 places it will be certain to be weak and deformed. A 

 number of perfect pinion feathers of the species of hawk 

 keist should always be on hand to supply the place of 

 broken ones on your hawks. To imp a broken feather, 

 select a feather' corresponding to th.e broken one from 

 yom" stock; hood the falcon and have him held by an 

 assistant. Choose a firm, pithy part of the broken feather, 

 of course above the point of fracture, and being careful 

 not to injm'e the web, cut it neatly and obliquely across 

 with a sharp knife. Next cut the false feather at a posi- 

 tion and angle to match the real one. An imping needle, 

 consisting of a piece of soft iron wire rather finer than 

 the inside diameter of the two feathers, and 1-Jin. long, 

 and filed to a point at both ends and to a triangular fomi, 

 is now pushed, after having been first dipped into liquid 



glue, half way (see Fig. 2) into the pith of each feather, 

 the needle is next pushed up until the oblique edges of 

 the two feathers are neatly approximated, and the feather 

 is impaled, and is nearly as strong as the original one. 

 Should the falcon's feather be simply broken clean across 

 and the plume not lost or injm-ed, the feather may te 

 imped with its own plume in the same manner as above 

 described. 



When flying hawks, either at pigeons or wild game, the 

 neighborhood of wild fences must be avoided, else the 

 falcon will likely enough be killed by dashing against 

 them when in pursuit of quarry, especially running game. 

 Of course, it will also be necessary to take precautions 



AMERICAN LANIER FALCON. 



that your birds are not killed by strange dogs or shot 

 while on quarry, when they have killed at a long distance 

 from you. Of com-se, also, you will always get in as 

 rapidly as possible after the kill, or the liawk will first 

 gorge itself and then fly off, and you may have diflaculty 

 in recovering it. 



The falcon, whether taken as haggard or as eyas, having 

 now been properly tamed, trained and "entered" at her 

 quariy, is now ready for the field and the chase of wild 

 game. There are two methods of using falcons for the 

 capture of wild game: when they will "wait on" well 

 they are only carried hooded to the field, and as soon as a 

 game region is reached are unhooded and allowed to 

 take wing and sail over the falconer's head, following him 

 and his dogs from field to field until game is flushed. 

 Hawks which will not "wait on" satisfactorily, and indeed 

 aU falcons when flown at certain quarry, are flown "out 

 of the hood," the cap being worn either until game is 

 actually flushed, or until the dogs j)oint, or the quarry is 

 seen. For game hawking proper, dogs are always used, 

 and the bnds soon learn to recognize a "point" as" well as 

 the sportsnian himself, and know what is coming. Hawks 

 which have been regularly hunted for several years 

 become veiy cunning, and follow with wonderful sagacity 

 che movements of the dogs and hunters, and instead of 

 being frightened by, are only encouraged by the noise of 

 the field. Of course, the dogs used must be familiar with 

 tlie hawks, and the birds with them, and be carefully 

 trained not to run in wlien the falcon has killed. It is 

 always discouraging to a hawk to be driven from its 

 quarry, and is apt to cause sulkiness and disobedience. 

 The falcon, of course, stoops as soon as the bird or hare is 

 flushed by the dogs or beaters. 



For game hawking eyases are to be preferred, as they 

 are more tractable and "wait on" better, and are but sel- 

 dom lost. For the chase of heavy or difficult quarry, such 

 as herons, ducks or crows, haggards should be used, as 

 then strength and power of flight is greater. Sometimes 

 a cast or pair of hawks are flown at such powerful prey 

 as the larger herons; the falcons mutually assisting each 

 other and stooping in turn as the quarry dodges. 



Game birds lie very close when a falcon is waiting on 

 over them, and give the hawk a good chance when they 

 are fluslied, as he has been watching directly over the 

 dog. It is a gallant sight; the setter at a dead point, the 

 falcon at her point high in the air, but just above him, 

 both tremblmg with eagerness. The game is flushed, and 

 swish! those great wings are closed and the bird has 

 stooped like a flash of light. So tremendous is the power 

 of the stoop that I have seen the roof of the skull of an 

 adult bluejay torn completely off by a wild peregrine in 

 a single swoop, and trained jjeregi'lnes have been known 

 to amputate the head of a Scotch grouse at a single 

 blow- with their terrible hind talons. A grouse will often 

 give a long chase, foihng a dozen stoops, and "puttmg in" 

 or dashing into cover several times. In the latter' case 

 the falcon must be "served" — or the quarry flushed — as 

 soon as possible and encouraged by shouts, as falcons are 

 unable to kill prey among trees or brush, and soon become 

 discom-aged if their quarry is not speedily flushed. For 

 this reason the most open country accessible should 

 always be chosen for the hunting field. "Wlien the hawk 

 kiUs, at once approach and call her to the Im-e, or, better 

 still, lift her on the quarry to the wrist and feed the falcon 

 from the head and neck of the bird. Hood up when the 

 slight meal is finished and he is ready for another flight. 

 The hawk must be always "fed up" from your hand from 

 the bodv of the last bird killed when the hnnt is over; it is 

 not well to hood him imtil the meal is finished, as the ex- 

 perience of being can-ied through the fields— perhaps 

 among prancing horses and barking dogs — is very valu- 

 able, training the falcon to be regardless of any sight or 



soimds. The bird if well trained wiU not bate while you 

 feed him. 



A powerful falcon will fly — and this is especially true 

 of the dashing peregrine and lanier — three, fom* or even 

 six times in an afternoon if the individual flights be not 

 very fatiguing, and a pair of hawks used alternately will 

 afford from eight to eleven flights at slow quarry in a 

 day before being fed up. If a hawk lose his prey, im- 

 mediately swing the well known lure round your head 

 and sound your whistle, and when he "comes in" be sure 

 to reward him with some fresh and tender pieces of beef. 

 It will never do to allow haggards to be upon the wing 

 flying aimlessly around when not waiting on for game. 



Herons, crows, and heavy prey generally is captm-ed 

 by stalking with the falcon on your wrist, hooded of 

 course. As the game takes to flight, unhood, and toss off 

 the hawk. The trained birds are "served" and "taken 

 np" after the kill precisely as in game hawking, but only 

 the strongest and boldest of females are able to fly more 

 than once or twice at such prey as geese, guUs, ravens or 

 cranes. Should a falcon kill a mile or so away from you, 

 and you are unable to "get in" before he has gorged him- 

 self, he will generally be found in some tall tree or on 

 some wall of rocks near the remains of the quarry. If 

 the lure will not bring him to your call, try the live 

 I)igeon in a creance, or a dead one, with string attached, 

 thrown up to his feet; hawk and pigeon may then be 

 pulled down together, for if the falcon once grasps it he 

 will not relax his hold. Magpie hawking was and still is, 

 with a few gentlemen, a great favorite in England; the 

 cunning and alertness of the quarry giving the best pos- 

 sible sport. A field is required armed with light whips to 

 put up mag when she takes refuge in bushes and hedges 

 to escape the stoops of the peregrine, which she does 

 again and again. The chase often lasts twenty minutes 

 and covers a mile or more of ground, and often gives 

 plenty of hard riding and running for that time. The 

 American bluejay might yield similar sport. Woodcock 

 also give good sport with peregrines, the hawks being 

 pai'ticularly keen after this quany. Such a chase would 

 hardly be possible in tliis countiy, however, save in the 

 rare instances when the longbills are found in open 

 country which can be run or ridden over. Duck hawk- 

 ing can only be practiced in cornfields or open country 

 where there are no bodies of water of any considerable 

 size — ^too large to be beaten by a dog — otherwise the 

 falcon will always be foiled by the quarry taking to 

 water. Almost aU game hawking can be conducted on 

 foot, but for crow, heron, or haggard hawking the 

 falconer should be mounted, and, of com-se, a ndable 

 country must be selected for the hunt. 



All falcons have a highly scientific knowledge of where 

 the life lies — in which they differ markedly from the 

 more clumsy true hawks — and lose no time in killing 

 quarry outright when brought down. Their point of 

 attack is usually the head, and grasping a bird by the 

 head and neck, they rip open its throat or split its skull 

 at once before beginning to tear the prey to pieces. This 

 habit gives thena an immense advantage, the short- 

 winged hawks often being injmed by strong-beaked 

 quaiTy, and always wasting their energies in holding down 

 prey which they are fully able to kill at once. Wild short- 

 winged hawks'must put their prey to terrible torture, as 

 they generally begin to drag out feathers and tear their 

 victim without any attempt to kill it outright. 



Fig. 1 is a portrait of an American lanier falcon in the 

 adult plumage; the peculiar markings and the general 

 form of the bu-d are well shown. 



Fig. 2 illustrates the manner of imping a broken feather 

 above described; the imi)ing needle is cross lined, and is 

 shown in position ready to be pushed up into the two 

 quills. Ralph W. Seiss. 



