Fig. 294.—Heron Hawking.
"Now riding fast, we soon came by the side of the meadows adjoining the warren, where the 'markers' of M. de Ligné discovered three Herons, and at once came to tell him of it. Making up his mind to attack them, the Sieur de Ligné did me the favour of giving me a white Gyrfalcon, named 'La Perle,' to let fly; he himself took another, called 'Le Gentilhomme,' and one of his people took a third, named 'Le Pinson.' When the Herons heard us approach they became alarmed, and took wing while we were yet some distance off; seeing this, we let fly the birds, which were some time before they perceived the quarry. At last one of the Hawks caught sight of them, and went in pursuit. The two others immediately followed with so much ardour and speed that in a very short time they had all reached the Herons, and were attacking one, which defended itself; but it was so roughly treated that it could not make much resistance, and was soon taken. Whilst the Falcons were having their pleasure with it (that is, whilst the quarry was being given them), the other Herons, frightened at seeing their companion so badly treated, kept on rising in the direction of the sun, hoping to shelter themselves in its glare. But they were descried; M. de Ligné told me of this, saying, 'I can see the two Herons up above still rising. I give you one as your share.' On which, seeing them at such an immense height, I replied that the Falcons would have great difficulty in getting at them. Then he let fly his bird, we doing likewise, and they all vied with one another in soaring upwards, using such diligence that soon we saw them almost as high up as one of the Herons. Having first made an effort and got above their prey, they commenced to deal it such a shower of blows that it seemed stupefied, and flew down to gain the shelter of the woods. We rode forward to bring the hounds to the assistance of the Falcons, and were just in time; for the Heron had thrown itself into a thicket, in which we captured it alive, although taken from the mouth of one of the dogs. Giving this bird to the Falcons, we mounted our horses again to let fly after another."
The casts at the Crow and the Magpie were also very amusing. These birds would try at first to escape by means of speed, and then, recognising the uselessness of their efforts, they afterwards took refuge in a tree, from which the falconers had much trouble to drive them, so great was their terror for their pursuers.
For field and river sport the Falcon is not let fly direct from the fist; that is, the Falcon does not attack immediately on leaving the hand—it is thrown up, or, in common parlance, is let fly, before the game flushes. The Falcon hovers for some time, and then stoops down on the prey which the dogs have forced up. In order to escape its persecutor the Wild Duck often takes to the water; from this the dogs again force it to take wing. The Hare is hunted in much the same way.
Hawking is even nowadays held in high honour in the North of Africa and in Asia, being the favourite diversion of the Arabs. In the Sahara the Falcon is trained to hunt Pigeons, Partridges, Hares, Rabbits, and even the Gazelle.
In Persia and Turkestan the Falcon is not trained, as it used to be in Europe, for some special game; they accustom it to stoop on all kinds of prey. Hunting the gazelle with Hawks is a diversion much esteemed among these nations. The plan adopted is as follows:—
"The Persians," says Thévenot, the traveller, "provide stuffed Gazelles, on the noses of which they always place the food for their Falcons, and never feed them anywhere else. After they have been thus trained they take them out into the open country, and when they see a Gazelle they let fly two of these birds, one of which darts down on the nose of the Gazelle, and fastens on to it with its talons. The Gazelle stops short, and shakes himself to get rid of the bird; but the latter keeps his place for some time by means of flapping his wings, thus preventing the Gazelle from running fast, and even from seeing where it is going. When at last, with some trouble, the Gazelle disengages itself from its pursuer, the other Falcon, which is flying near, takes the place of the one thrown off; the latter, in its turn, again resumes the assault when its companion has fallen. The birds thus hinder the running of the Gazelle, so that the dogs easily overtake it."
In Egypt the Falcon is trained for this kind of sport by taking it young, limiting the quantity of its food, and then frequently bringing it into the presence of sheep: being in a famished state, the bird unhesitatingly darts on them.
Hawking is also held in high esteem in India, both by the natives and Europeans resident there. It is no rare thing to see young ladies reviving all the customs of the Middle Ages, and penetrating into the jungles mounted on elephants, accompanied by their Falcons, which are flown at the charming blue antelope.
In China and Japan hawking is also very popular: in the course of a day's journey it is no uncommon thing to meet persons pursuing this sport.