Cassell's book of birds; vol. 1

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

In Central Asia the use of these birds for hunting purposes appears to have been carried on with truly Eastern pomp and profusion, for Marco Polo, who wrote about the year 1290, tells us that when Kublai Khan quitted Hambul he took with him no fewer than 10,000 falconers, who were sent out in parties of from 200 to 300 men to hunt over different parts of the country, and were commanded to send all the game they obtained to their master.

ORIENTAL FALCONRY.

On these occasions the Khan rode upon an elephant, and was followed by 10,000 men, who stood in an enormous circle round him, ready to catch the Falcons and bring them back to their owners. Twelve of the finest birds were appropriated to the Sultan, and these, as well as those belonging to the principal nobles, were distinguished by a silver plate fastened to the leg, on which the name of their owner was written, whilst the Falcons belonging to inferior members of the suite were without the badge, and were handed over to the care of an officer appointed for their especial protection. Tavernier, who resided in Persia for many years in the seventeenth century, tells us that the King of Persia had 800 Falcons, of which some were taught to hunt wild boars, wild asses, antelopes, and foxes, and others trained to go in pursuit of Cranes, Herons, Geese, and Partridges; Chardin, another eastern traveller, informs us that the Persians trained them to fly at the heads of very large quadrupeds, or even men, and blind them. It would appear that this mode of hunting with Falcons is still practised in many provinces of Asia, and Sir John Malcolm, in his "Sketches of Persia," describes the sport of hawking as seen by him when at Abasheher on the Persian Gulf:—

"The huntsmen repair to a large plain, or rather desert, near the sea-side; they have Hawks and greyhounds; the Hawks are carried in the usual manner, on the hand of the huntsman; the dogs led in a leash by the horseman, generally the same who carries the Hawk. When an antelope is seen, they endeavour to get as near as possible, but the animal, the moment it observes them, goes off at a rate that seems swifter than the wind; the horsemen are instantly at full speed, having slipped the dogs. If it is a single deer, they at the same time fly the Hawks, but if a herd, they wait till the dogs have fixed on a particular antelope. The Hawks, skimming along near the ground, soon reach the deer, at whose head they pounce in succession, and sometimes with a violence that knocks it over; at all events they confuse the animal so much as to stop its speed in such a degree that the dogs can come up, and in an instant men, horses, dogs, and Hawks, surround the unfortunate deer, against which their united efforts have been combined. The part of the chase that surprised me most was the extraordinary combination of the Hawks and the dogs, which throughout seemed to look to each other for aid; this, I was told, was the result of long and skilful training. The Hawks used in this sport are of a species I have never seen in any other country; the breed, which is called 'Cherkh,' is not large, but of great beauty and symmetry.

"The novelty of these amusements interested me, and I was pleased on accompanying a party to a village, about twenty miles from Abasheher, to see a species of hawking, peculiar, I believe, to the sandy plains of Persia, on which the Hubara, a noble species of Bustard is found on almost bare plains, where it has no shelter but a small shrub, called 'yeetuck.' When we met in quest of them we were a party of about twenty, all well mounted. Two kinds of Hawks are necessary for this sport; the first, the Cherkh (the same which is flown at the antelope) attacks them on the ground, but will not follow them on the wing; for this reason, the Bhyree, a Hawk well known in India, is flown at them the moment the Hubara rises. As we rode along in an extended line, the men who carried the Cherkhs every now and then unhooded and held them up, that they might look over the plain, and the first Hubara we found afforded us a proof of the astonishing quickness of sight of one of the Hawks. She fluttered to be loose, and the man who held her gave a whoop as he threw her off his hand, and then set off at full speed; we all did the same. At first we only saw our Hawk skimming over the plain, but soon perceived, at the distance of more than a mile, the beautiful speckled Hubara, with his head erect and wings outspread, running forward to meet his adversary; the Cherkh made several unsuccessful pounces, which were either evaded or repelled by the beak or wings of the Hubara, which at last found an opportunity of rising, when a Bhyree was instantly flown, and the whole party were again at full gallop; we had a flight of more than a mile, when the Hubara alighted, and was killed by another Cherkh, who attacked him on the ground. We killed several others, but were not always successful, having seen our Hawks twice completely beaten during the two days that we followed this fine sport."

According to Jerdon, the Bedouins of the Sahara capture large numbers of Peregrine Falcons, and sell them to men who train them to pursue Bustards, Storks, Ibises, and various quadrupeds. The Heron alone, of all birds, seems capable of resisting these terrible assailants, and will sometimes defend itself so courageously with its beak as to drive off the enemy, should the latter not have sufficient experience to seize the Heron by the nape of the neck. In England the pursuit of the Heron by means of Falcons was practised until very recently, and Sir John Sebright gives the following account of Heron hawking as practised at Didlington in Norfolk:—

"This heronry is situated on a river, with an open country on every side of it. The Herons go out in the morning to rivers and ponds, at a very considerable distance, in search of food, and return to the heronry towards the evening. It is at this time that the falconers place themselves in the open country, down wind of the heronry, so that when the Herons are intercepted on their return home, they are obliged to fly against the wind to gain their retreat. When a Heron passes, a cast (a couple) of Hawks is let go. The Heron disgorges his food when he finds that he is pursued, and endeavours to keep above the Hawks by rising in the air. The Hawks fly in a spiral direction to get above the Heron, and thus the three birds frequently appear to be flying in different directions. The first Hawk makes his stoop as soon as he gets above the Heron, who evades it by a shift, and thus gives the second Hawk time to get up and stoop in his turn. In what is termed a good flight this is frequently repeated, and the three birds often mount to a great height in the air. When one of the Hawks seizes his prey, the other soon binds to him, as it is termed, and, buoyant from the motion of their wings, the three descend together to the ground, with but little velocity. The falconer must lose no time in getting hold of the Heron's neck when he is on the ground, to prevent him from injuring the Hawks; it is then, and not when he is in the air, that he will use his beak in his defence."

The Schahin, or Royal Falcon (Falco peregrinator), is highly prized by the Hindoos, who catch large numbers annually. When in pursuit of game, this latter species is not loosened from the huntsman's hand, but is permitted to soar aloft in freedom until its prey is roused, when it swoops down upon it with unerring aim.