The Art and Practice of Hawking

Of the numerous birds of prey which are found in various parts of the globe, a good many have been employed in the service of man as agents in the pursuit of other birds and of...

Probably the commonest fault in young falconers of the modern school is that of keeping too many hawks. Almost every writer on the subject has warned them over and over again ag...

Half an hour or so before the time appointed for starting to the field, the falconer will begin to hood up those hawks which are to be taken out. Each of them, if in proper orde...

Considering the great variety which exists in the character, shape, size, colour, and appearance of hawks, it may be easily supposed that they differ also in strength, speed, an...

The care of a hawk's feathers is a very important and elementary part of the falconer's duties. If he is naturally clumsy or careless, and yet hopes to do any good in this vocat...

Eyesses, or young hawks taken from the nest, should not be taken until the latest possible day. If the captor can defer the moment until they are able to fly a little, so much t...

Partridges, pheasants, and other game birds may be killed with several kinds of hawks. In ancient times it seems that the former were taken in England with the jerkin, or male g...

We have traced the history of the wild-caught hawk from the moment of her misadventure in the bow-net to that in which having been introduced under good auspices to the society...

Before the intending falconer takes any preliminary steps even towards becoming the owner of a hawk, he must make himself thoroughly familiar with the necessary appliances which...

If history is rightly called the practical illustration of philosophy, then the quarry-book may be considered with justice the tangible test of the falconer's theories. In many...

Eyesses, as well as passage peregrines, may be flown at the rook; but this quarry is more suitable for a falcon than a tiercel. Mr. O'Keefe used eyess falcons for this flight, a...

The merlin, the lady's hawk, has always been the hawk _par excellence_ for larks. Hobbies, no doubt, have taken them in the old days, though they were used more often for "darin...

After a day of unsuccessful flights the falconer returning sadly with his discouraged hawks may derive some consolation from the thought that he has at least brought them all sa...

a finger of the right hand, she will generally strike out with open beak in the direction of the offending finger--not, of course, with any idea of eating anything, or even any...

A most important period in the life of any hawk arrives when she begins to undergo the ordeal of moulting. The annual or biennial change of plumage which occurs naturally in alm...

No distinction was made when we were talking about hack and the manning of hawks between the different species to which they happen to belong. Nor is it necessary to insist much...

There is so little difference between the training of the goshawk and that of the sparrow-hawk, that it is unnecessary to give any special directions for the latter. But, just a...

The flight at gulls is so similar to that at rooks, although much more difficult, that I should be tempted to say no more concerning it, were it not that I have been favoured by...

IT would be easy to fill a large volume with dissertations on the antiquity of the art which is now called Falconry, and with records of its history in different countries durin...

All big hawks captured after they have begun to prey for themselves are now commonly called passage hawks, although the name, strictly speaking, may not be at all correct. Wild-...