FALCONRY, the term applied to the art of training certain of the falcon tribes to the r- u t and capture, on the wing, of birds such as the heron, partridge, lark, rook, magpie, will luck, pigeon, etc. In ancient times, this sport was called HAWKING, a term still preserved in many places, and which, perhaps, is the more strictly correct of the two. Nowadays, falconry is the term applied to the sport and all that pertains to it; hawking to its actual practice in the the field. F. is of very ancient origin, and has been traced back, as an eastern sport, to a period anterior to the Christian era. In Britain, it seems to have been followed before the time of the heptarchy; and in the celebrated Bayeux tapestry. Harold is figured with a hawk upon his hand. It seems, however, to have been practiced in eastern countries, and in central Europe, long before it became estab lished in Great Britain; and to such a height did the sport reach in Germany, that nobles, and even kings, seem to have devoted to it the greater part of their time. As an instance of this, the emperor Frederick II. of Germany was a passionate admirer of the sport, and is said to have written a treatise on F., published by J. G. Schneider in 1788 (2 vols. Leip.). In England, after the Norman conquest, F. seems to have taken rapid strides, being much indulged in by kings, nobles, and ladies; and in those days the rank of the individual was indicated by the particular species of hawk carried on his wrist. Thus, an earl carried a peregrine falcon. In the 17th c., the sport declined; in the 18th c., it partially revived, but again fell off about the year 1725, when the art of shooting birds on the wing came into fashion. In the present day, an attempt is being made in several quarters in England to restore this noble sport, and already its restoration is being attended with growing success. In India, Persia, and other eastern countries, F. is still eagerly practiced, the methods there followed being for the most part nearly similar to those of Great Britain.
In F., two distinct kinds of hawks are used—the long-winged or true falcons, and short-winged. The first (noble birds of prey) are represented chiefly by the gyrfalcon and peregrine; the second by the goshawk and sparrow-hawk; and though for certain purposes the male is superior, as a rule the females of each species are much more highly esteemed for sporting purposes, from their being larger and more powerful. " Long winged " hawks may also, as a rule, be distinguished from the "short-winged," by their having a "tooth" or notch on the upper mandible; from the second feather of the wing being either longer, or, as long, at the third; and from their impetuous " stoop " at their prey.
The gyrfalcon (q.v.) is the largest species, but from its extreme rarity in the British islands, is seldom used. The peregrine falcon is the bird in greatest favor with falcon ers, and if taken from the nest, as is usually the case, and carefully trained, affords bet ter sport than any other British species. We shall therefore confine our remarks, for the most part, to the sport as it is practiced with this bird.
No hawk is fit for sporting purposes until it has undergone a careful process of train ing. The young hawk is more easily trained than that which leas been caught in a wild state, but in either case, a number of operations'require to be gonelth•ough before the sportsman ventures to take his falcon into the field. Taken from her nest on some high and dangerous cliff when nearly fledged, the eyess, or young falcon (with her companion fledglings, usually two in number), is carefully conveyed to the falconer's home: there she is kept in an open shed in a nest of straw, and fed several times a day upon fresh beef, with an occasional change of birds or rabbits. At this somewhat critical period, she should never be handled, except to put on the jesses and bells, which afterwards becomes permanent fixtures. Her powers of flight, too, being as yet very limited, she depends upon her master for regular supplies of food, and soon learns to come for her meals at his call. Her meat is usually fixed to an apparatus termed the lure, and thus the hawk is early accustomed to that important instrument, the further uses of which are explained below. By degrees her powers of flight are strengthened, and she is per mitted to fly at large (returning to the lure at her master's will to be fed, or in hawk ing language, to remain at hack) for several weeks, during which time her meals are gradually reduced to one a day. While at hack, she sometimes becomes wild, wanders far from home, and kills game for herself; and when this is the case, she is usually caught by enticing her to a bow•net, close to which a pigeon or some meat is fastened to the ground. After being "taken up" from hack, she is kept at the block—the stand upon which she sits—for a few days before her regular training begins. At this time, also, hawks require a bath twice or thrice a week.