FOOTNOTES:
[196] Ṣaqar (sometimes pronounced ṣagar or ṣag͟har) is one of the names by which this falcon (F. Sacer of Jerdon and F. cherrug of Blanford) is known to the Arabs. Possibly the word ṣaqar is by Arabs applied to other falcons also.
[197] Considerable confusion exists with regard to the various names of this falcon. By Indians this species is called charg͟h, by Afghans chark͟h. By Persians the passage falcon is styled bālābān and the eyess chark͟h, while by the Turks of Persia the passage falcon and the eyess are often both called aitālgī. The Author, however, himself a Turk, states that the nestling of a particular variety is by Turkish falconers distinguished by the name aitālgī. In Lahore to Yarkand, a report on some of the scientific results of the expedition to Yarkand in 1870, there is a coloured figure of an old and not uncommon variety of the Saker, to which the scientific name of Falco Hendersoni is appended; and it is stated that Mr. Hume considered this falcon to be the Shunqār of Eastern falconers. Apparently following up this idea, Scully, in his vocabulary of the Turki names of birds, gives as the equivalent of the Turki aitalgū, “the female of the ‘shunqār,’ Falco Hendersoni.” There is, however, evidence to show that, in ancient times, Shunqār was a name given by Indian falconers to a species of Jerfalcon, vide page 36, note [151]. Modern Indian falconers, proverbial for inaccuracy, have a habit of calling any Saker (charg͟h) that is unusual in size and markings a “shunqār,” and so, by exciting emulation, obtain a fictitious price from some credulous native gentleman. Though seemingly only one species of charg͟h visits the Panjab, individuals so vary in size, shape, markings, and colouration, that it is at first sight difficult to believe that they are of the same species. Amongst young birds some are whole-coloured, others have some small white specks on the back, while others again have white heads with spotted tails. In some varieties the tail spots are barely visible; in others they are so white and numerous that the spread tail appears to be nearly all white. Peculiarities may disappear to a great extent in the first moult. The colouring of the “intermewed”[198] falcon depends, to a great extent, on feeding and exposure. “Haggards” vary, nearly, if not quite, as much as the immature hawks. A rare variety is said, by Panjabī falconers and others, to have the tarsus feathered “like certain breeds of pigeons.” In the Derajat this variety is distinguished by the term pā-moz or “booted,” while in the Pindi Gheb district it is considered a distinct species and called Sang-sang. The evidence of the existence of this peculiar variety (which is also supposed to be above the average in size) is detailed and corroborative. Arab falconers of Baṣrah have described this variety to the translator, and stated that it is known to them by the name of Shung͟hār. By the name Sang-sang some species of falcon (probably a chark͟h) is known to the Afghans. The Charg͟h breeds in Afghanistan, Persia, and elsewhere, but not in India. Apparently more than one race visits India. In the Panjab it is flown only at large quarry—kite, hare, houbara, and occasionally at black ibis and common heron. In Baghdad it is said to be flown at geese. Corballis, in Forty-five Years of Sport, says, “This falcon is good at smaller game, such as grouse, partridges, etc.” Apparently he is speaking of Syria. The Saker is too slow for sand-grouse in ordinary circumstances.
[198] “‘Intermewed.’ A hawk that has been moulted in confinement.”—Lascelles.
[199] This word is perhaps a copyist’s error.
[200] Madmaʿ Ar. sing. “The place where the tears collect in the sides of the eye”; the pl. madāmiʿ comprises the inner and outer angles of the eyes, but is especially applied to the inner. Vide note [49], page 8.
[201] In India a hawk with a tail without marks is called lagaṛ-dum, or “tailed like the Lagar Falcon.”
[202] In Dresser’s Birds of Europe it is stated that Jerdon once took a Sārus crane (Grus Antigone) with a Saker.
[203] Mudhun A. and rūg͟han-dān P.
[204] Shāh-par, “flight-feather.”
[205] Qāpāq; derivation unknown.
[206] These two feathers are apparently called by the Arabs rudāfạ. This word is the plural of radīf which literally signifies “to ride pillion.” In m. c. it is the name given by Persians and Turks to the “Army Reserve.” Vide also page 73, note [305].
[207] Possibly from badr, “the full moon.”
[208] Ḥurr Ar. “free-born”; hence “noble.” The Saker and Goshawk are styled ḥurr, and also the young of certain animals. Ṣāfī, “pure, unmixed, etc.”
[209] Apparently Badū-pasand, “liked by the Bedouins.”
[210] Jibālī, adj. from jibāl “mountains,” plural of jabal.
[211] Sālimu S̤urayyā.
[212] Mut̤laqu ’l-ʿamūd.
[213] Māṣiḥ rudāfạ.
[214] Lafīf: meaning of lafīf obscure.
[215] There is no letter ch in Arabic. In ʿIrāq, however, k is sometimes pronounced ch. Wakr (wachr) in Arabic is a nest, so “wachrī” might signify “nestling.” An Arab gentleman in Baṣrah (a falconer) told me that the white Saker with drops on the back is called Ḥurr Ṣāfī; the same if of a reddish tinge Ḥurr Shāmī; and that these races are supposed to come from “Persia” and “Syria.” The dark Saker with drops on the back is, he said, called Wacharī Jarūdī, and without drops Wacharī. The best for gazelle, he stated, was the “Persian” and “Syrian.” The Baghdad Sakers are preferred to those of Baṣrah. Sakers are caught in Bushire and taken for sale to Baṣrah, where they fetch as much as seventy rupees. In the Panjab their price varies from three to ten rupees, according to locality and season.
[216] Shikārchī, a comprehensive term; “sportsman, fisherman, bird-catcher, etc., etc.”
[217] The Sheikh of Baḥrayn keeps many sakers and peregrines which are flown at houbara on the opposite Persian Coast. The translator once travelled with the Sheikh’s two sons in a B. I. boat: they had fifty or sixty falconers and as many peregrines and sakers, all, with one exception, young and newly trained.
[218] By Turkey, the Author probably means Asia Minor.
[219] Probably Turkey in Europe.
[220] The best bred Arab horses are from Nejd.
[221] Yābū, a pony of a coarse breed.
[222] Duzd, lit. “a thief.”
CHAPTER XX
THE EYESS SAKER FALCON
The eyess chark͟h[229] is of four kinds. First there is the variety that in the Spring[230] months breeds in the hills of Persia and Turkey.[231]
Another is found in Nejd[232] in Turkish territory, where it lays its eggs on the bare ground, like the black-breasted sand-grouse,[233] and the houbara bustard. This variety is called chark͟h-i māniʿī.[234]
Another kind nests in the hills and dry water-courses of Nejd. From thence nestlings are obtained by the Arabs who style them Ḥijāzī.[235]
All these kinds, if obtained from the nest, are chark͟h, and if snared after they have left the nest are lafīf.
The chark͟h-i māniʿī is exceptionally good, whether for gazelle, or common crane, or golden eagle: you can train it to anything. I am able to state that it is faster even than the shāhīn, for I have often flown one at crane in company with a shāhīn, and it has reached and “bound” to the crane a long way ahead of it.[236]
The colouration of the māniʿī varies, but that variety that has very red markings on the back, like a kestril,[237] is the best. Of all the chark͟hs of the world the māniʿī with red spots on the back is the best. Although it is an eyess (chark͟h) and is obtained from the nest, it is equal to any noble passage falcon (bālābān) of the ḥurr ṣāfī race. It is to be obtained only from the Arabs of Unayza.[238] In that waterless part of ʿArabistān its chief prey is houbara and hare.[239]