The Art and Practice of Hawking. E. B. Michell
or staple in it, if the leash is fastened to a ring-peg (Fig. 16) in the ground. But even if this peg is driven in on the windward side of the block, that is, on the side towards which the hawk is pretty sure to bate off, the risk of entanglement is not wholly avoided; and a hawk so attached should not be left alone for long. The top of the block should be covered with cork (Fig. 17), or it may be padded and covered with leather. But in the latter case it must not be left out in the rain. Wood is too hard for hawks to stand on for any length of time, and is apt to give them corns or sore feet. No hawk should be allowed to stand on a wet block. A simple and not a bad plan for making merlins’ blocks, is to saw off a chunk from a pole or tree branch, about 2½ in. in diameter and 5 or 6 in. long. Into one end insert a spike, and on to the other nail a 4-in. or 5-in. bung (Fig. 18). A 4-in. metal curtain-ring, measured from outside to outside, can be placed on the ground and the spike driven into the earth in the middle of the ring, which will run freely round the block when the leash is attached to it. Care must always be taken to drive the block well home to the ground, or the leash may get jammed under its lower edge, and cause a dire mishap. Fig. 19 is a little field block which I use for merlins. It can be carried in a side-pocket when out on the open downs. After one of these little hawks has done her day’s flying, or before her turn comes, instead of putting her, hooded, on the pole cadge, her leash is made fast to the looped creance, which comes from a ring in the top of the block. The spike is driven into the ground in a sheltered spot, and the hawk is deposited on the top of the pigmy post, where she will sit, if not exactly “like patience on a monument,” at least more comfortably than if merely pegged out on the prickly grass or still more uninviting stubble.
Bow-perches for goshawks and sparrow-hawks may be made by simply bending a length of yew or other tough wood into the shape of an arch, and sticking the two sharpened ends into the ground (Fig. 20). A more elaborate apparatus made of iron, with three spikes and a padded top, is shown in Fig. 21. In any case it is proper to pad the uppermost part of the arch. The ring for the leash runs loosely on the outer frame of the perch. The crutch-like perch shown in Fig. 22 is simple, and has its merits. Probably for an eagle it is the best resting-place that could be provided. When fixing up bow-perches or crutch-perches care should be taken that they are placed broadside on to the wind, so that the hawk as she takes perch on them may directly face the wind. It is perhaps needless to say that for an eagle the spike should be very long, and hammered deep into the ground.
The hood, or to speak more exactly, the hood proper, is an article of attire with which every educated person is vaguely familiar. The exact shape is shown in Fig. 24. It is made of stiffish leather, fashioned on a wooden block made of the size and shape of the hawk for which it is intended, and stitched together. Some amateurs have arrived at a certain proficiency in making their own hoods. Captain Salvin, for instance, could manufacture very good ones. But such excellent hoods can be obtained from Mr. Möllen, for all sorts of hawks, at so small a price, that it is scarcely worth while to be at the trouble of making them. The hooding of hawks is an art in itself, and will be referred to in a later chapter. When the hood is well on the hawk’s head and the beak well through the opening in front, the longer and thinner of the braces at the back (A, A) are pulled apart, and the back of the hood is thus drawn tight, so that it is impossible to remove it. The shorter and stouter ends are pulled when it is desired to slacken the fastening, so that the hood can be taken off by lifting the plume forwards. Usually each of these operations is performed with the aid of the right hand and the teeth. As the hawk stands on the falconer’s left fist with her tail outwards over his knuckles, he takes hold with his right finger and thumb of the brace which is on the hawk’s left side, and then catches hold with his front teeth of the brace which is on the hawk’s right side. A sharp pull brings the ends apart, and the hood is braced up or slackened, as the case may be. Before any hood is ever put on, the falconer should remember to look inside it to see that no dust or dirt or stray feathers or anything else has found its way in, and it is as well to blow a puff of air into it to clear it of any particle of dust.
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