Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/16

6 effectual than the agency of hawks, notwithstanding the high state of efficiency to which, as we may still see, well- trained hawks may be brought. The antiquity of falconry is very great. It seems impossible to fix the exact period of its first appearance. There appears to be little doubt that it was practised in Asia at a very remote period, for which we have the concurrent testimony of various Chinese and Japanese works, some of the latter being most quaintly and yet spiritedly illustrated. It appears to have been known in China some 2000 years B.C., and the records of a King Wen Wang, who reigned over a province of that country 689 B.C., prove that the art was at that time in very high favour. In Japan it appears to have been known at least 600 years B.C., and probably at an equally early date in India, Arabia, Persia, and Syria. Sir A. H. Layard, as we learn from his work on Nineveh and Bnbylon, considers that in a bas-relief found by him in the ruins of Khorsabad " there appeared to be a falconer bearing a hawk on his wrist," from which it would appear to have been know r n there some 1700 years B.C. In all the above-mentioned countries of Asia it is practised at the present clay. Little is known of the early history of falconry in Africa, but from very ancient Egyptian carvings and draw ings it seems to have been known there many ages ago. It was probably also in vogue iu the countries of Morocco, Oran, Algiers, Tunis, and Egypt, at the same time as in Europe. The older writers on falconry, English and Con tinental, often mention Barbary and Tunisian falcons. It is still practised in Africa ; the present writer has visited two hawking establishments in Egypt. Perhaps the oldest records of falconry in Europe are supplied by the writings of Pliny, Aristotle, and Martial. Although their notices of the sport are slight and some what vague, yet they are quite sufficient to show clearly that it was practised in their days between the years 384 B.c. and 40 A.D. It was probably introduced into England from the Continent about 860 A.U., and from that time down to the middle of the 17th century falconry was followed with an ardour that perhaps no sport in our country has ever called forth, not even our grand national sport of fox-hunting. Stringent laws and enactments, notably in the reigns of William the Conqueror, Edward III., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth, were passed from time to time iu its interest. Falcons and hawks were allotted to degrees and orders of men according to rank and station, for instance, to royalty the jerfalcons, to an earl the peregrine, to a yeoman the goshawk, to a priest the sparrow-hawk, and to a knave or servant the useless kestrel. The writings of Shakespeare furnish ample testi mony to the high and universal estimation in which it was held in his days. About the middle of the 17th century falconry began to decline in England, to revive somewhat at the Restoration. It never, however, completely recovered its former favour, a variety of causes operating against it, such as enclosure of waste lands, agricultural improvements, and the introduction of fire-arms into the sporting field, till it fell, as a national sport, almost into oblivion. Yet it has never been even temporarily extinct, and it is still very successfully practised at the present day. In Europe the game or " quarry " at which hawks are flown consists of grouse (confined to the British Isles), black- game, pheasants, partridges, quails, landrails, ducks, teal, woodcocks, snipes, herons, rooks, crows, gulls, magpies, jays, blackbirds, thrushes, larks, hares, and rabbits. In former days geese, cranes, kites, ravens, and bustards were also flown at. Old German works make much mention of the use of the Iceland falcon for taking the great bustard, a flight scarcely alluded to by English writers. In Asia the list of quarry id longer, and, in addition to all the fore going, or th jir Asiatic representatives, various kinds of bustards, sand grouse, storks, ibises, spoonbills, pea-fowl, jungle-fowl, kites, vultures, and gazelles are captured by trained hawks. In Mongolia and Chinese Tartary, and among the nomad tribes of Central Asia, the sport still flourishes ; and though some late accounts are not satis factory either to the falconer or the naturalist, yet they leave no doubt that a species of eagle is still trained in those regions to take large game, as antelopes and wolves. Mr Atkinson, in his account of his travels in the country of the Amoor, makes particular mention of the sport, as does also Mr Shaw in his work on Yarkand ; and in a letter from the Yarkand embassy, under Mr Forsyth, C.B., dated Camp near Yarkand, Nov. 27, 1873, the following passage occurs : " Hawking appears also to be a favourite amuse ment, the golden eagle taking the place of the falcon or hawk. This novel sport seemed very successful." It is questionable whether the bird here spoken of is the golden eagle. In Africa gazelles are taken, and also partridges and wildfowl. The hawks used in England at the present time are the three great northern falcons, viz., the Greenland, Iceland, and Norway falcons, the peregrine falcon, the hobby, the 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 general use at the present day are the peregrine falcon and the goshawk. In all hawks, the female is larger and more powerful than the male. Hawks are divided by falconers all over the world into two great classes. The first class comprises "falcons," " long-winged hawks," or " hawks of the lure," distinguished by Eastern falconers as "dark-eyed hawks." In these the wings are pointed, the second feather in the wing is the longest, and the iricles are dark-brown. Merlins must, however, be excepted ; and here it would seem that the Eastern distinction is the best, for though merlins are much more falcons than they are hawks, they differ from falcons in having the third feather in the wing the longest, while they are certainly " dark-eyed hawks." The second class is that of " hawks," " short-winged hawks," or " hawks of the fist," called by Eastern falconers "yellow (or rose) eyed hawks." In these the wings are rounded, the fourth feather is the longest in the wing, and the irides are yellow, orange, or deep-orange. The following glossary of the principal terms used in falconry may, with the accompanying woodcut, assist the reader in perusing this notice of the practice of the art. Useless or obsolete terms are omitted : gate. A hawk is said to "bate" when she flutters off from the list, pereh, or bloek, whether from ilduess, or for exercise, or iu the attempt to chase. Bcu-its. Straps of 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 air and clings to it. This term is properly only applied to the seizure of large quarry, taken at a height in the air. Block. The conical piece of wood, of the form of an inverted flowerpot, used for hawks to sit upon ; for a peregrine it should be about 10 to 12 inches high, 5 to 6 in diameter at top, and 8 to 9 in diameter at 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 joint, and the ends are tied together. Cadge. The wooden frame on which hawks, when numerous, are carried to the field. Cctdi/cr. The person who carries the cadge. Culling off. Luring a hawk (see Lure) from the hand of an assist ant at a distance for training or exercise is called "calling oft . Carry. A hawk is said to "carry" when she Hies away with the quarry on the approach of the falconer. Cast. Two hawks which may be nsed for flying together are called a " cast."