The Art and Practice of Hawking. E. B. Michell
During the whole of this time the unmoulted peregrine was known, from the colour of her plumage, as a red hawk; and this term is still constantly employed. Many writers also called her during the same period merely a soar-hawk, neglecting the finer distinctions. It seems also that for a hawk which had been taken in August or thereabouts, and kept in captivity, it was quite correct to continue the name soar until her first moult was over. Passage-hawks and lantiners were those only which had been caught in late autumn or late winter; and these words could never be used for such as had been caught before. As for the terms “gentle” and “slight,” they seem most properly to belong to peregrines which had been caught after they left the nest, but before they began to migrate.
In spring or early summer the young peregrine naturally begins to moult; and as soon as this tedious operation is concluded she becomes, if wild, a “haggard,” and if tame, an “intermewed” hawk. In any case she is described as “blue,” and not “red.” There is some doubt as to the meaning of the term haggard, many authorities, including the lexicographers, deriving it from the Saxon hag, meaning hedge. A more rational explanation seems to be that which traces it to the Hebrew word agar or hagar, meaning wild, as it is used in the Old Testament. Wildness, indeed, is always regarded by Shakespeare and other writers as the characteristic of the adult wild hawk, and not any liking for hedges, to which no peregrine is very partial.
The language, or jargon, of falconry appropriated to the falcon, and, by analogy, to other hawks, especially of the long-winged species, special terms for various parts of her body and various movements and conditions; much in the same way as several of the Oriental languages describe the actions of royalty by special names. Thus her wings are sails: the long feathers of them are flight feathers; and of these the outer are principals; and next to them are the flags. Her tail is her train; and the two central feathers of it are deck feathers. Her lower leg is an arm, and her foot a hand, with petty singles instead of toes, and talons instead of vulgar claws. Her nostrils are nares; her breast feathers are mails; her lower intestine is her pannel; and her crop her gorge.
A host of the commonest actions are dignified by more or less quaint appellations. When a hawk sleeps she “jowks”; when she sips water she “bowses.” When she seizes her quarry in the air she “binds” to it; and when her companion in the flight comes up and also takes hold, she or he is said to “join.” When she strips the feathers of the “pelt,” or dead body, of the quarry, she “deplumes”; and as she passes the food from her crop downwards she “puts over.” To “endue” is to digest; to “feak” is to wipe her beak after eating; to “rouse” is to shake herself; to “mantle” is to stretch out the leg in a sideways and backward direction, and afterwards stretch the wing over it; to “mute” is to evacuate; and to “cast” is to throw up the refuse feathers, bones, and other indigestible matter which remains in her crop after a meal has been digested. When a hawk is pushed or forcibly held down by the hands she is said to be “cast” (French, abattue); and when she is bound up in a wrapping, so as not to be able to move, she is “mailed.” When a silk thread is passed by means of a needle through the upper eyelids and made fast under the chin she is said to be “seeled,” and the process of undoing these fastenings is called “unseeling.” When she stretches her wings upwards over her head she “warbles.” When quarry is put up for her, she is “served” with it. When she drives a quarry to take refuge in covert she is said to “put in”; and when she rises in the air over the place where the quarry has gone into hiding she “makes her point.” If instead of doing this she goes and takes perch on a tree or other place of vantage, she “blocks.” When her digestive organs are brought into good condition she is said to be “enseamed.”
Most of these words can be used indifferently for both long-winged and short-winged hawks; but others are inappropriate for the latter. Thus it is wrong to call the claws of a short-winged hawk talons; and a goshawk or sparrow-hawk does not “mute,” but “slice.”
Black Shaheen (Falco peregrinator, or Falco atriceps)
This hawk is decidedly smaller than the true peregrine, the female hardly exceeding a big tiercel in length or weight. It is distinguished by the darker colour of its head, and especially of the sides and moustachial streak, which may be called black. The under parts of the body have a more or less pronounced rufous tinge; and the ends of the wings, when closed, approach more nearly to the end of the tail.
The black shaheen is docile, and more easily reclaimed than the peregrine; and is a great favourite with some of the Indian falconers, although the many distinguished Europeans who have flown hawks in that country express themselves less satisfied, and rather doubt the courage of peregrinator in the field. The quarry is the same as that of the peregrine, but it is only the strongest individuals which can be expected to cope with such heavy birds as the latter can tackle. Of the rapidity of its flight there can be no doubt; but Colonel Delmé Radcliffe says that it is inferior to the peregrine in “ringing” flights.
Red-naped Shaheen (Falco babylonicus)
Female—Length, about 17¼ inches; wing, 13; tail, 7¼. Male—Length, 15½ inches; wing, about 11¾; tail, 6¼.
This is another very near relation of the peregrine, also a favourite with the Indian falconers, both native and European. It is slightly smaller than the black shaheen, from which, as well as from F. peregrinus, it is readily distinguished by the reddish chestnut colour of the back of the head. The foot is smaller proportionately than that of the peregrine, and shaped rather more like that of the desert falcons. It is easily caught and reclaimed, and is said to develop a sort of affection for its trainer. When trained it is a most useful servant, and will fly with readiness and success at almost any of the innumerable Indian birds which are anywhere nearly of its own size. It excels particularly in the flight at wild ducks; and a specimen which was brought to England not many years ago proved a first-rate game-hawk. Latham asserts that it can be flown successfully at wild geese, but should be followed closely by well-mounted men, who should dismount quickly and secure the quarry, which may otherwise severely damage the hawk with its long and strong wings. He appears to have known a tiercel which flew rooks, and seldom missed as much as one in ten flights. It is a better moulter than the peregrine, and can sometimes be fully moulted by August.
Barbary Falcon (Falco barbarus)
Female—Length, about 13½ inches; wing, 11½; tail, 5½. Male—Length, about 12¾ inches; wing, 10¾; tail, 5.3.
This beautifully-shaped hawk is the smallest of those which have been commonly called miniature peregrines; and the resemblance is hardly so marked in either of the last-mentioned varieties. For the barbary is even more powerfully armed and feathered than her bigger cousins, having not only the wings conspicuously longer and more pointed than F. peregrinus, but also distinctly larger feet and talons, and a larger beak proportionately to her size. The colouring is the same as that of the peregrine, except that the young birds are generally lighter, especially about the head, which has a slightly ruddy tint; and the feet are more usually yellow than grey-blue. In adults the thighs are strongly marked with arrow-headed streaks. This hawk is sometimes called the Tartaret. It is found in the southern portion of the temperate zone, especially on the African and other shores of the Mediterranean.
The falcons and strong tiercels will fly well at partridges, pigeons, and doves. Quails, of course, are easily taken by them, as they are exceedingly fast on the wing. If a cast of haggards could be trained for peewit or snipe, and well entered, they would probably have as good a chance as any hawk which could be selected for these difficult flights.
Lesser Falcon (Falco minor)
This hawk very much resembles the last, but has longer legs, and a slight rufous tinge on the plumage. It is found chiefly in South Africa.
The Punic Falcon (F. punicus), the Javanese Falcon (F. melanogenys), and the Chilian Falcon (F. cassini), all more or less resemble the peregrine, but with variations in the colour of the plumage, and of smaller dimensions.
Saker (Falco sacer)
The measurements of this hawk, as of a great many others,