EXPERIMENTS IN HAWKING 
17 
I do not exaggerate when I say that I had at least six 
different kinds of hawks sitting in different trees waiting 
for me to put down rats for them. 
This state of things, however, did not last for ever, and I 
tried the native trap used for birds, composed of the well- 
known bent stick snare, which is kept set by means of a small 
twig which, when moved, releases the spring, the bird being 
caught round the leg with a running noose. 
The first bird I caught was very similar to the European 
goshawk. She had a dark-brown back, speckled breast, and 
was pure white under the wings. She was, as far as I could 
judge, about the same size as a female goss. Her talons 
were a little stronger and longer than those of the goss, but the 
head and eyes seemed exactly similar to those of the European 
bird. 
Having had good sport in Ireland with a goshawk, I was 
hoping that this bird would also turn up trumps, and perhaps 
she would have done so had I had time to devote to the matter. 
Having got my hawk, I had to set about breaking her in. 
I first cut a ‘ boy’s ’ blanket into long strips, which I wound 
round my wrist and forearm to enable me to handle her better. 
I had previously made jesses and slipped these on, pulled the 
leash through and tied her up to her perch, which was padded 
slightly on the top and had an empty sack hanging down 
and tied at the two bottom corners to the ground. The 
object of this sack was that, should she try to fly and fall 
down, as she naturally would to the end of her leash, she 
could climb up the stout sacking back to her perch. 
At first she was very wild and would not eat, but at the end 
of the third day she took a live mouse and ate it whilst I stood 
in front of her. After this she rapidly became quite tame, 
and at the end of ten days looked for my coming and would 
let me handle her. 
All this time I had fed her on rats and mice, but now I tried 
birds. The first pigeon I gave her did not interest her much, 
and until I had cut it open and half plucked it she did not 
seem to know that it was food. After this she plucked the 
birds herself and was very keen on them. She took longer to 
learn that a Guinea fowl was also good to eat. 
Vol. v.— No. 9. 
C 
