Show OF YE OLDEN TIES I i The Ancient Pastime of Falconry Being Revived FUN WITH HAWKS AND DOGS Next Will be the Castle with Its Moat Drawbridge Draw-bridge Dungeon and Host of Retainers NEW YOKK Feb 13Special correspondence correspon-dence of TUB HEUALDI rainbow had been shattered by the hammer of Thor and the fragments were scattered over the western sky a bloodred highway ran in a straight line over the sea to the sun which rested like a ball of molten metal upon the horizon There was a sudden rushing sound and a bolt from heaven struck in the midst of the sun path scattering a shower of jewels that reflected back the sunset hues of the day An instant later an American osprey rose from the waves with his glistening prey in his talons It was a noble sighta grand plunge an unerring un-erring aim skillful and quick recovery and as I watched the bird rise higher and higher over my boat I thought what grand and artistic and intensely interesting sport it would be to discard our hooks and lines our creeping and crawling and disgusting bait and to substisuto a ring or perch of ospreys hooded and belled like the falcons of old It was an enchanting fancy and nothing but the grim necessity of being compelled to make a living has deterred me from carrying out the idea mot f TE OLDEN TIME The ancient sport of falconry is about to be revived by a number of wealthy men in New Jersey where in the open country there are excellent opportunities for fun with hawk and dogs Falconry was introduced into England about the fourth century and flourished during the middle ages and the Renaissance From the peasant with his sparrowhawk to the crowned king with his cerfalcon all were passionately fond of hawking What were then considered vast fortunes were expended upon the cultivation of this sport The grand master of the order of St John of Jerusalem sent twelve falcons annually to the kings of France A French kuight of the order conveyed the birds to his monarch for which service he received asa as-a present his travelling expenses and money equivalent to 15000 a year Louis XIIL was daft on falconry and always went hawking before going to church Alert Al-ert qe Luynes made a fortune by his scientific training and treatment of the bias Baron de la Chastaigneraie chief falconer for Louis XIIL cared for 140 birds and employed 100 men to assist him in their careEngland and Germany were enthusiastic on the subject of hawking No lady or gentleman gen-tleman noble or ecclesiastic with any self respect would appear in public without a pet bird mounted upon the gauntleted wrist The officiating clergy even took their birds to church with them only leaving leav-ing them perched upon the altar steps while engaged in the actual church service Formerly falcons were divided into two classes noble and inferior The gerfalcons were the nobility in the bird aristocracy and the others the falcon the hobby the merlin etc had to content themselves with riding on the gloved hands of esquires and people of small importance The United States Is well supplied with birds of prey none of which probably are not susceptible of being trained for the chase That they can be trained know having as a lad reared many and taught them to come at my call and to be gentle in their behavior not pinching my wrist when perching upon it This is half the battle and any one with time and patience can do the rest t fJr 1 14 7 f tN A tr r frI k CJj 7 l Vt VP f O rf 0GUDLL J 1ianL In selecting a bird try to secure a branchcr that is a bird that has been long enough out of the nest to hop from limb to limb but is as yet incapable of flight and consequently unable to provide for its own wants Paupers are always servile and as this young bird mustlivo upon your charity he will be more easily tamed than a haggard hag-gard that is a full grown bird that is perfectly per-fectly competent to hunt for himself and supply his own wants and is consequently independent and under restraint fierce and savage Young birds that have just left their wild cradle on rock or treetop are called eysas and are the most easily tamed and trained but they are apt to lack the strength and audacity of the brancher or the haggard The brancher may be caught by the lure of a pigeon or a quail and the haggard by means of a decoy and a net There is a deadly enmity between the hawks and their nocturnal rivals the owls and hence an owl is frequently used as a decoy to induce the haggards to swoop down for the opportunity oppor-tunity of a blow at their hated enemy A tame hawk or falcon also makes an excellent excel-lent decoy for his wild brothers In The early spring hawks nests can be found within twenty minutes journey by rail or ferry from New York City and young ones procured which will prove interesting in-teresting pets to those who care to bestow time upon them Should a demand for young or trained birds arise there are plenty of dealers in birds and animals who would hasten to supply the market with both the domestic and imported article but if any of the readers of this paper seri pusly think of trying their hand at hawk ing they will enjoy the sport the more and understand their birds the better if they rear and train them by their own hand Hawks and falcons being of wild and violent vi-olent natures are at first insensible to both punishment and caresses hence with an intractable bird want of light and food Is the only punishment that will affect it and it is of the utmost importance that the same person should always administer its food and care for the girds welfare Hav ing secured a brancher shackle its legs with the supple thongs of straps called be wit the bewits usually terminate with bells With an old arms buckskin gaunt let protect your hand and wrist place the bird upon your guantletedwrist and carry it about with you night and day giving it no opportunity for rest If your falcon or hawk tries to bite and fight you douse his his head into pail of cold water and it will quiet him and then put on the leather hood which will keep him in complete darkness Three days and nights I of this will make the wildest falcon inclined to be docile to a certain extent Next teach the bird to take its food quietly allowing no flutter i ing fighting or undue excitement during its meal Feed it with your hand and I never do so without whistling or giving the peculiar tall i whatever it may be by which you intend to summon the bird in the future when you wish it to resume its perch upon your wrist It will by this means learn to recognize the call ani associating asso-ciating the noise with food and food with its perch upon your gauntlet will always fly for your wrist when you call Familiarize Familiar-ize your charge with horses dogs and strangers A LWITS Jj I I THE IMPLEMENTS OF FALCONRY When the ruling classes wish to strengtnen their power over their poorer brethren they seek to make the poor dependent de-pendent upon the bounty of the rich for their support and by thus destroying the independence of the socalled lower classes the ones in power retain re-tain their position Now exactly the same policy must be pursued with a wayward or foolish bird that prefers freedom and self support to wearing a plumed hood on its head and bewits on its legs With such a bird excite its appetite by forcing it to swallow pellets of tow mixedovith a little wormwood and garlic This will increase its hunger and thereby make it more dependent de-pendent upon its master and consequently more docile and the pleasure it derives from the gratification of the artificial appetite ap-petite will attach it more closely to its master who feeds tt In a week or less the bird is tamed and then you can commence with the training Take the falcon out in your yard or if you live in the city and have no backyard seek a retired spot in the park Put a piece of meat on your hand and calling the bird teach it to hop on your hand By no means allow it to partake of the meat until it has answered your call Next fasten the meat to a lure made of a flat piece of wood and covered on both sides with the wings of the I bird you intend to hunt or the skin of the animal you expect your hawk to pounce upon Unhood your bird and show it the lure If the bird strikes the lure allow it to take the meat when it has answered your call and returned to your wrist The 1 string attached to the lure may be from ten 5 dfjQ f1 f s l < I j < 4 r l rr s to more than thirty yards in length and when the bird swoops down upon the lure at the full length of the string and will then obey the call you are on the road to success and know that the bird recognizes thelure and knows that by answering your call it will be entitled to the meat for its reward This point gained you need no longer fear allowing your bird freedom because at a moments notice you can reclaim him with the call or signal even if he be soaring high overhead at the sound of the call he will descend to his accustomed perch upon the buckskin gauntlet You may show your bird living game by letting the reap animals or birds represented repre-sented by the lure fly or run handicapped by strings fastened to their legs If your falcon takes these properly binds the game well and is obedient to the call you are safe to take him to the field and try him on wild game and if you are fond of field sports you will be more than repaid for ypur perseverance and trouble in breaking your brancher Although the word falcon is often used indiscriminately for any or all birds used to hunt yet in the language of falconry there are many distinctions according to Yarrell for instance the female peregrino was exclusively called the falcon and on account of her great size power and courage cour-age was usually flown at herons and duck the male often only twothirds the size of his mate was called tercel tiercel and tiercelet and was flown at partridges and magpies Soon after the Norman conquest the birds were regulated by law with nice distinctions dis-tinctions one style was for kings as we have before stated another for princes of the blood still others for dukes and great lordsfifteen grades in all which reached down to the knave Naturalists are as bad as the Normans or worse and divide and subdivide and quarrel quar-rel over the subdivisions In 1S74 two well known authorities published a list one making six species of goshawks Astur and the other thirtyone the latter made only twentythree sparrowhawks and the former fortyfive According to the latest authority at hand the hawks differ from true falcons ill not having a toothed or notched bill i I J 1 I NJ a9 i fit da I a rN l 1 a L 3 JO AL The goshawk of the United States Is one of our handsomest birds of and the crown of his head is deep black and the upper parts bluishslate darker at the taiL There are no crossbars on the throat but each in dividual feather has an artistically arranged dot or dash of color It has dark tinged I wings a tail of thesame hue with obscure bands across it A broad white stripe with fine black penciling running from above I and behind the eye adds expression and fierceness to the face Audnbon loved to I watch this bird and describe the bold daring dar-ing adventures as on strong wing it sailed over the American wilds that have since become populous towns and farming districts dis-tricts It would take a volume to descrbe each species and be unnecessary as the only object of this article is to attract the attention of the sportsman to the grand possibilities for sport that wouldbe opened by a revival of hawking The fair sex would also have an opportunity oppor-tunity for in days of old when knights were bold the knight always paid his court to his fair one by his marked attention atten-tion to the falcons Using the greatest judgment in flying the bird at the proper moment never losing sight of it encouraging encour-aging it by calls following it and and securing se-curing the prey from the deathdealing talons and with a caress as a reward for the lucky or skillful work the knight would slip the hood over the birds head and with all the grace he could assume place the talon on the slender wrist of his and the birds mistress DAN BrAND |