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FALCONRY (Fr. fauconnerie, from Late ...
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See also:FALCONRY (Fr. fauconnerie, from See also:Late See also:Lat. falco, See also:falcon)
, the See also:art of employing falcons and See also:hawks in the See also:chase, often termed Hawking
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See also:Falconry was for many ages one of the See also:principal See also:sports of the richer classes, and, since many more efficacious methods and appliances for the See also:capture of See also:game undoubtedly existed, it is probable that it has always been carried on as a pure See also:sport
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The antiquity of falconry is very See also:great
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There appears to be little doubt that it was practised in See also:Asia at a very remote See also:period, for which we have the concurrent testimony of various See also:Chinese and See also:Japanese See also:works, some of the latter being most quaintly and yet spiritedly illustrated
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It appears to have been known in See also:China some 2000 years B.C., and the records of a See also:
It is still practised in Egypt
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Perhaps the See also:oldest records of falconry in Europe are supplied by the writings of See also:Pliny, See also:Aristotle and See also:Martial
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Although their notices of the sport are slight and somewhat vague, yet they are quite sufficient to show clearly that it was practised in their days—between the years 384 B.C. and A.D
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40
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It was probably introduced into See also:England from the See also:continent about A.D
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86o, and from that time down to the See also:middle of the 17th See also:century falconry was followed with an ardour that perhaps no English sport has ever called forth, not even See also:fox-See also:hunting
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Stringent See also:laws and enactments, notably in the reigns of See also: In Europe the game or " See also:quarry " at which hawks are flown consists of See also:grouse (confined to the See also:British Isles), See also:black-game, pheasants, partridges, quails, landrails, ducks, See also:teal, woodcocks, snipes, herons, rooks, crows, gulls, magpies, jays, blackbirds, thrushes, larks, See also:hares and rabbits . In former days geese, See also:cranes, kites, ravens and bustards were also flown at . Old See also:German works make much mention of the use of the See also:Iceland See also:falcon for taking the great See also:bustard, a See also:flight scarcely alluded to by English writers . In Asia the See also:list of quarry is longer, and, in addition to all the foregoing, or their See also:Asiatic representatives, various kinds of bustards, See also:sand grouse, storks, ibises, spoonbills, See also:pea-See also:fowl, See also:jungle-fowl, kites, vultures and gazelles are captured by trained hawks . In See also:Mongolia and Chinese Tartary, and among the See also:nomad tribes of central Asia, the sport still flourishes; and though some See also:late accounts are not satisfactory either to the falconer or the naturalist, yet they leave no doubt that a See also:species of eagle is still trained in those regions to take large game, as antelopes and wolves . Mr See also:Atkinson, in his See also:account of his travels in the country of the See also:Amur, makes particular mention of the sport, as does also Mr See also:Shaw in his See also:work on Yarkand; and in a See also:letter from the Yarkand See also:embassy, under Mr Forsyth, C.B., dated See also:Camp near Yarkand, Nov . 27, 1873, the following passage occurs:—" Hawking appears also to be a favourite amusement, the See also:golden eagle taking the See also:place of the falcon or hawk . This novel sport seemed very successful." It is questionable whether the See also:bird here spoken of is the golden eagle . In Africa gazelles are taken, and also partridges and wildfowl . The hawks used in England are the three great See also:northern falcons, viz. the See also:Greenland, Iceland and See also:Norway falcons, the peregrine falcon, the See also:hobby, the See also:merlin, the goshawk and the sparrow-hawk . In former days the saker, the lanner and the Barbary or Tunisian falcon were also employed . (See FALCON.) Of the foregoing the easiest to keep, most efficient in the field, and most suitable for See also:general use are the peregrine falcon and the goshawk .
In all hawks, the See also:female is larger and more powerful than the male
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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Hawks are divided by falconers all over the See also:world into two great classes
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The first class comprises " falcons," i.e
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" See also:long-winged hawks," or " hawks of the lure," distinguished by Eastern falconers as " dark-eyed hawks." In these the wings are pointed, the second See also:feather in the wing is the longest, and the See also:iris is of a deep, dark-See also: Useless or obsolete terms are omitted: Austringan.—A falconer . Bate.—A hawk is said to " bate " when she flutters off from the fist, See also:perch or See also:block, whether from wildness, or for exercise, or in the See also:attempt to chase . Bewits.—Straps of See also:leather by which the bells are fastened to a hawk's legs . Bind.—A hawk is said to " bind " when she seizes a bird in the See also:air and clings to it . Block.—The conical piece of See also:wood, of the See also:form of an inverted See also:flower-pot, used for hawks to sit upon; for a peregrine it should be about to to 12 in. high, 5 to 6 in See also:diameter at See also:top, and 8 to 9 in diameter at See also:base . Brail.—A thong of soft leather used to secure, when desirable, the wing of a hawk . It has a slit to admit the pinion See also:joint, and the ends are tied together . Cadge.—The wooden See also:frame on which hawks, when numerous, are carried to the field . See also:Cadger.—The See also:person who carries the cadge . Calling off.—Luring a hawk (see Lure) from the See also:hand of an assistant . Carry.—A hawk is said to " carry " when she flies away with the quarry on the approach of the falconer . See also:Cast.—Two hawks which may be used for flying together are called a " cast," not necessarily a pair . Casting.—The oblong or See also:egg-shaped See also:ball, consisting of feathers, bones, &c., which all hawks (and insectivorous birds) throw up after the nutritious See also:part of their See also:food has been digested . Also the See also:fur or feathers given them to assist the See also:process . Cere.—The naked See also:wax-like skin above the See also:beak . Check.—A hawk is said tc See also:fly at " check " when she flies at a bird other than the Intended See also:object of pursuit . Clutching.—Taking the quarry in the feet as the short-winged hawks do . Falcons occasionally " clutch." Come to.—A hawk is said to " come to " when she begins to get tame . See also:Coping.—Cutting the beak or talons of a hawk . Crab.—To fight . Creance.—A long See also:line or See also:string . See also:Crop, to put away.—A hawk is said to " put away her crop " when the food passes out of the crop into the See also:stomach . See also:Deck feathers.—The two centre tail-feathers . Eyas.—A hawk which has been brought up from the See also:nest (nyas, from Fr. niais) . Eyry.—The nest of a hawk . See also:Foot.—A hawk is said to " foot " well or to be a " See also:good footer when she is successful in killing . Many hawks are very See also:fine fliers without being " good footers." Frounce.—A disease in the mouth and See also:throat of hawks . Get in.—To go up to a hawk fvheu she has killed her quarry . Hack.--The See also:state of partial See also:liberty in which See also:young hawks must always at first be kept . See also:Haggard.—A See also:wild-caught hawk in the adult plumage . See also:Hood.—(See fig.) Hoodshy.—A hawk is said to be " hoodshy " when she is afraid of, or resists, having her hood put on . See also:Hunger trace.—A See also:mark, and a defect, in the tail feathers, denoting a weak point; generally due to temporary See also:starvation as a nestling . Imping.—The process of mending broken feathers iscalled" imping." (See fig.) Taiping See also:needle.—A piece of tough soft See also:iron See also:wire from about I to 2 in. long, rough filed so as to be three-sided and tapering from the middle to the ends . (See fig.) Intermewed.—A hawk moulted in confinement is said to be " inter-mewed." See also:Jack.—See also:Mate of the merlin . See also:Jerkin.—Mate of the jerfalcon . Jesses.—Strips of See also:light but very tough leather, some 6 to 8 in. long, which always remain on a hawk's legs—one on each See also:leg . (See fig.) Jonk.—To See also:sleep . Leash.—A strong leathern thong, some 21 or 3 ft. long, with a See also:knot or See also:button at one end, used to secure a hawk . (See fig.) Lure.—The See also:instrument used for calling long-winged hawks—a dead See also:pigeon, or an artificial lure made of leather and feathers or wings of birds, tied to a string, with See also:meat attached to it . See also:Mail.—The See also:breast feathers . Make hawk.—A hawk is called a " make hawk " when, as a thoroughly trained and steady hawk, she is flown with young ones to See also:teach them their work . See also:Man a hawk.—To tame a hawk and accustom her to strangers . Implements used in Falconry . the upper See also:ring of swivel is attached . Hawk's leg with See also:bell a, bewit b, jess c . Jesses, swivel and leash . Portion of first wing-feather of male peregrine falcon, " tiered," See also:half natural See also:size, in process of imping; a, the living hawk's feather; b, piece supplied from an-other tiered, with the imping needle c pushed half its length into it and ready to be pushed See also:home into the living bird's feather . See also:Mantle.—A hawk is said to " mantle " when she stretches out a leg and a wing simultaneously, a See also:common See also:action of hawks when at ease; also when she spreads out her wings and feathers to hide any quarry or food she may have seized from another hawk, or from man . In the last See also:case it is a See also:fault . See also:Mew.—A hawk is said to " mew " when she moults . The place where a hawk was kept to See also:moult was in olden times called her " mew." Buildings where establishments of hawks were kept were called " See also:mews." See also:Musket.—Male of the sparrow-hawk . Mutes (mutings).—Excrement of hawk . Pannel.—The stomach of a hawk, correrponrPn2 with the gizzard of a fowl, is called her pannel . In it the casting is formed . Passage.—The line herons take over a See also:tract of country on their way to and from the heronry when procuring food in the breeding See also:season . Passage hawks.—Hawks captured when on their passage or See also:migration . Pelt.—The dead See also:body of any quarry the hawk has killed . See also:Pitch.—The height to which a hawk, when waiting for game to be flushed, rises in the air . Hood . Back view of hood, showing braces a, a, b, b; by See also:drawing the braces b, b, the hood, now open, is closed . See also:Rafter hood . Imping-needle . Jess; d is the space for the hawk's leg; the point and slit a, a are brought See also:round the leg, and passed through slit jb, after which the point c and slit c, and also the whole remaining length of jess, are pulled through slits a and b; c is the slit to which 6 . 7 . 8 . Plume.—A hawk is said to " plume " a bird when she pulls off the feathers . Point.—A hawk " makes her point " when she rises in the air over the spot where quarry has saved itself from capture by dashing into a hedge, or has otherwise secreted itself . Pounces.—A hawk's claws . Pull through the hood.—A hawk is said to pull through the hood when she eats with it on . Put in.—A bird is said to " put in " when it saves itself from the hawk by dashing into covert or other place of See also:security . Quarry.—The. bird or beast flown at . See also:Rake out.—A hawk is said to " rake out " when she flies, while " waiting on " (see Wait on), too far and wide from her See also:master . Ramage.—Wild . Red hawk.—Hawks of the first See also:year, in the young plumage, are called " red hawks." Ringing.—A bird is said to " ring " when it rises spirally in the air . After hood.—An easy fitting hood, not, however, convenient for hooding and unhooding—used only for hawks when first captured . (See fig.) Sails.—The wings of a hawk . Seeling.—Closing the eyes by a fine See also:thread See also:drawn through the lid of each See also:eye, the threads being then See also:twisted together above the See also:head—a practice long disused in England . Serving a hawk.—See also:Driving out quarry which has taken See also:refuge, or has " put in." Stoop.—The hawk's rapid plunge upon the quarry . Take the air.—A bird is said to " take the air " when it seeks to See also:escape by trying to rise higher than the falcon . Tiercel.—The male of various falcons, particularly of the peregrine, also tarcell, tassell or tercel; the See also:term is also applied to the male of the goshawk . Trussing.—A hawk is said to " See also:truss " a bird when she catches it in the air, and comes to the ground with it in her talons: this term is not applied to large quarry . (See Bind.) Varvels.—Small rings, generally of See also:silver, fastened to the end of the jesses, and engraved with the owner's name . Wait on.—A hawk is said to " wait on " when she flies above her master waiting till game is sprung . Weathering.—Hawks are " weathered " by being placed unhooded in the open air . Passage hawks which are not sufficiently reclaimed to be See also:left out by themselves unhooded on blocks are " weathered " by being put out for an See also:hour or two under the falconer's eye . Yarak.—An Eastern term, generally applied to short-winged hawks . When a hawk is keen, and in hunting See also:condition, she is said to be " in yarak." The training of hawks affords much See also:scope for See also:judgment, experience and skill on the part of the falconer, who must care-fully observe the See also:temper and disposition as well as the constitution of each bird . It is through the appetite principally that hawks, like most wild animals, are tamed; but to See also:fit them for use in the field much See also:patience, gentleness and care must be used . Slovenly taming necessitates starving, and See also:low condition and weakness are the result . The aim of the falconer must be to have his hawks always keen, and the appetite when they are brought into the field should be such as would induce the bird in a state of nature to put forth its full See also:powers to obtain its food, with, as near as possible, a corresponding condition as to flesh . The following is an outline of the process of training hawks, beginning with the management of a wild-caught peregrine falcon . When first taken, a rufter hood should be put on her head, and she must be furnished with jesses, swivel, leash and bell . A thick See also:glove or rather See also:gauntlet must be worn on the left hand (Eastern falconers always carry a hawk on the right), and she must be carried about as much as possible, late into the See also:night, every day, being constantly stroked with a bird's wing or feather, very lightly at first . At night she should be tied to a perch in a See also:room with the window darkened, so that no light can enter in the See also:morning . The perch should be a padded See also:pole placed across the room, about 41 ft. from the ground, with a See also:canvas See also:screen underneath . She will easily be induced to feed in most cases by drawing a piece of beefsteak over her feet, brushing her legs at the time with a wing, and now and then, as she snaps, slipping a morsel into her mouth . Care must be taken to make a See also:peculiar See also:sound with the lips or See also:tongue, or to use a low See also:whistle as she is in the See also:act of swallowing; she will very soon learn to See also:associate this sound with feeding, and it will be found that directly she hears it, she will gripe with her talons, and See also:bend down to feel for food . When the falconer perceives this and other signs of her " coming to," that she no longerstarts at the See also:voice or See also:touch, and steps quietly up from the perch when the hand is placed under her feet, it will be time to See also:change her rufter hood for the See also:ordinary hood . This latter should be very carefully chosen—an easy fitting one, in which the braces draw closely and yet easily and without jerking . An old one previously worn is to be recommended . The hawk should be taken into a very dark room—one absolutely dark is best—and the change should be made if possible in See also:total darkness . After this she must be brought to feed with her hood off; at first she must be fed every day in a darkened room, a gleam of light being admitted . The first day, the hawk having seized the food and begun to pull at it freely, the hood must be gently slipped off, and after she has eaten a moderate quantity, it must be replaced as slowly and gently as possible, and she should be allowed to finish her See also:meal through the hood . Next day the hood may be twice re-moved, and so on; day by day the practice should be continued, and more light gradually admitted, until the hawk will feed freely in broad daylight, and suffer the hood to be taken off and replaced without opposition . 'Next she must be accustomed to see and feed in the presence of strangers and See also:dogs, &c . A good See also:plan is to carry her in the streets of a See also:town at night,,at first where the See also:gas-light is not strong, and where persons passing by are few, unhooding and hooding her from time to time, but not letting her get frightened . Up to this time she should be fed on lean beefsteak with no castings, but as soon as she is tolerably tame and submits well to the hood, she must occasionally be fed with pigeons and other birds . This should be done not later than 3 or 4 P.M., and when she is placed on her perch for the night in the dark room, she must be unhooded and left so, of course being carefully tied up . The falconer should enter the room about 7 or 8 A.M. next day, admitting as little light as possible, or using a See also:candle . He should first observe if she has thrown her casting; if so, he will at once take her to the fist, giving her a bite of food, and re-hood her . If her casting is not thrown it is better for him to retire, leaving the room quite dark, and come in again later . She must now be taught to know the voice—the shout that is used to See also:call her in the field—and to jump to the fist for food, the voice being used every time she is fed . When she comes freely to the fist she must be made acquainted with the lure . Kneeling down with the hawk on his fist, and gently unheeding her, the falconer casts out a lure, which may be either a dead pigeon or an artificial lure garnished with beefsteak tied to a string, to a distance of a couple or three feet in front of her . When she jumps down to it, she should be allowed to eat a little on it—the voice being used—the while receiving morsels from the falconer's hand; and before her meal is finished she must be taken off to the hand, being induced tc forsake the lure for the hand by a tempting piece of meat . This treatment will help to check her inclination hereafter to carry her quarry . This See also:lesson is to be continued till the falcon feeds very boldly on the lure on the ground, in the falconer's presence—till she will suffer him to walk round her while she is feeding . All this time she will have been held by the leash only, but in the next step a strong, but light creance must be made fast to the leash, and an assistant holding the hawk should unhood her, as the falconer, See also:standing at a distance of s to to yds., calls her by shouting and casting out the lure . Gradually day after day the distance is increased, till the hawk will come 30 yds. or so without hesitation; then she may be trusted to fly to the lure at liberty, and by degrees from any distance, say r000 yds . This accomplished, she should learn to stoop at the lure . 
Instead of allowing the hawk to seize upon it as she comes up, the falconer should snatch the lure away and let her pass by, and immediately put it out that she may readily seize it when she turns round to look for it . This should be done at first only once, and then progressively until she will stoop backwards and forwards at the lure as often as desired . Next she should be entered at her quarry . Should she be intended for rooks or herons, two or three of these birds should be procured . One should be given her from the hand, then one should be released See also:close to her, and a third at a considerable distance . If she take these keenly, she may he flown at a wild bird . Care must, however, be taken to let her have every possible See also:advantage in her first flights—See also:wind and See also:weather, and the position of the quarry with regard to the surrounding country, must be considered . Young hawks, on being received by the falconer before they can fly, must be put into a sheltered place, such as an outhouse or See also:shed . Their See also:basket or hamper should be filled with See also:straw . A hamper is best, with the lid so placed as to form a See also:platform for the young hawks to come out upon to feed . This should be fastened to a See also:beam or prop a few feet from the ground . The young hawks must be most plentifully fed on the best fresh food obtainable—good beefsteak and fresh-killed birds; the falconer when feeding them should use his voice as in luring . As they grow old enough they will come out, and perch about the roof of their shed, by degrees extending their flights to neighbouring buildings or trees, never failing to come at feeding time to the place where they are fed . Soon they will be continually on the wing, playing or fighting with one another, and later the falconer will observe them See also:chasing other birds, as pigeons and rooks, which may be passing by . ' As soon as one fails to come for a meal, it must be at once caught with a See also:bow See also:net or a snare the first time it comes back, or it will be lost . It must be See also:borne in mind that the longer hawks can be left at hack the better they are likely to be for use in the field—those hawks being always the best which have preyed a few times for themselves before being caught . Of course there is great See also:risk of losing hawks when they begin to See also:prey for themselves . When a hawk is so caught she is said to be " taken up " from hack . She will not require a rufter hood, but a good See also:deal of the management described for the passage falcon will be necessary . She must be carefully tamed and broken to the hood in the same manner, and so taught to know the lure; but, as might be expected, very much less difficulty will be experienced . As soon as the eyas knows the lure sufficiently well to come to it See also:sharp and straight from a distance, she must be taught to " wait on." This is effected by letting the hawk loose in an open place, such as a down . It will be found that she will circle round the falconer looking for the lure she has been accustomed to see—perhaps See also:mount a little in the air, and advantage must be taken of a favourable moment when the hawk is at a little height, her head being turned in towards the falconer, to let go a pigeon which she can easily catch . When the hawk has taken two or three pigeons in this way, and mounts immediately in expectation, in short, begins to wait on, she should see no more pigeons, but be tried at game as soon as possible . Young peregrines should be flown at grouse first in preference to partridges, not only because the season commences earlier, but because, grouse being the heavier birds, they are not so much tempted to " carry " as with partridges . The training of the great northern falcons, as well as that of merlins and hobbies, is conducted much on the above principles, but the jerfalcons (gerfalcons or gyrfalcons) will seldom wait on well, and merlins will not do it at all . The training of short-winged hawks is a simpler process . They must, like falcons, be provided with jesses, swivel, leash and bell . In these hawks a bell is sometimes fastened to the tail . Sparrow-hawks can, however, scarcely carry a bell big enough to be of any service . The hood is seldom used for short-winged hawks—never in the field . They must be made as tame as possible by See also:carriage on the fist and the society of man, and taught to come to the fist freely when required—at first to jump to it in a room, and then out of doors . When the goshawk comes freely and without hesitation from short distances, she ought to be called from long distances from the hand of an assistant, but not oftener than twice in each. meal, until she will come at least moo yds., on each occasion being well rewarded with some food she likes very much, as a fresh-killed bird, warm . When she does this freely, and endures the presence of strangers, dogs, &c., a few bagged rabbits should be given to her, and she will be ready to take the field . Some accustom the goshawk to the use of the lure, for the purpose of taking her if she will not come to the fist in the field when she has taken stand in a See also:tree after being baulked of her quarry, but it ought not to be necessary to use it . Falcons or long-winged hawks are either " flown out of the hood," i.e. unhooded and slipped when the quarry is in sight, or they are made to " wait on " till game is flushed . Herons and rooks are always taken by the former method . Passage hawks are generally employed for flying at these birds, though some-times good eyases are quite equal to the work . For See also:heron-hawking a well-stocked heronry is in the first place necessary . Next an open country which can be ridden over—over which herons are in the See also: |