Having made them familiar, the next thing is to Bring them to the Lure, (which the Faulconer makes of Feathers, and Leather much like a Fowle, which he casts into the Air, and calls the Hawk to) which is after this manner. Set your Hawk on the Perch, unhood her, and shew her some Meat within your Fist, call her by Chirping, Whistling or the like, till she comes, then Feed her with it; if she comes not, let her Fast, and be sharp set: Short-winged Hawks, are properly said to be Called, not Lured. Make her bold, and acquainted with Men, Dogs, and Horses, and let her be eager and sharp-set, before you shew her the Lure; knowing her Luring Hours; and let both sides of the Lure be garnished with warm, and bloody Meat; let her likewise know your Voice well; so that being well acquainted with Voice, and Lure, the Hearing of the one, or Sight of the other, makes her Obedient; which you must reward by Feeding, or punish by Fasting. But before Luring (or any Flight) it is requisite to Bathe your Hawk in some quiet and still shallow Brook, or for want of that in a Large Bason, shallow Tub, or the like, lest being at Liberty, you lose your Hawk, (whose Nature requires such Bathing) and make her rangle. Now to make her know her Lure, is thus: Give your Hawk to another, and having loosned in readiness her Hood-strings, and fastened a Pullet to the Lure, go a little distance, cast it half the length of the string about your Head, still Luring with your Voice, unhood your Hawk, and throw it a little way from her: If she stoop and seize, let her plume the Pullet, and feed on it upon the Lure: Then take her and Meat on your Fist, Hood her, and give her the Tiring of the Wing, or Foot of the said Pullet.
Having Manned and Lured your Hawk, before you bring her to her Flight, one thing is to be observed and done, called in the Faulconers Dialect, Enseaming, which is to cleanse her from Fat, Grease, & Glut, known by her round Thighs, and full Meutings; and thus you may do it: In the Morning when you feed her, give her a bit or two of Hot-meat, and at Night very little or nothing. Then feed her Morning and Evening with a Rook, wash’d twice till the Pinions be tender; then give a Casting of Feathers as her Nature will bear; and once in two or three dayes give her a Hens-neck well joynted and washt: Then a quick train Pigeon every Morning; and after by these and her own Exercise, she has broken and dissolved the Grease, give her three or Four Pellets of the Root of Sellandine, as bigg as a Garden Pease, steept in the Sirrup of Roses; and you have done this part of your Duty.
To Enter your Hawks, for Partridge or Fowle, observe this. Lay an Old Feild-Partridge in a Hole, covered with something, and fasten to it a small Creance (i. e. a Fine small long Line of strong and even-wound Packthread fastned to the Hawks Leash when first Lured,) and uncoupling your ranging Spaniels, pluck off the Covering of the Traine Partridge and let it go, and the Hawk after it; and as soon as she has slain it, reward her well with it. And thus to make her fly at Fowle, feed her well with the Traine of the Fowle you would have; doing afterwards as above.
The Faults of Hawks differ according to their Nature and Make: Long-winged Hawks faults are thus helped. If she used to take stand, flying at the River, or in Champain Feilds, shun flying near Trees or Covert; or otherwise, let several Persons have Trains, and as she offers to stand, let him that’s next her cast out his Traine, and she killing it reward her. And indeed you ought never to be without some live Bird or Fowle in your Bag, as Pigeon, Duck, Mallard, &c. If she be Froward and Coy; when she Kills, reward her not as usually, but slide some other meat under her, and let her take her pleasure on it; giving her some Feathers to make her scoure and cast. If she be Wild, look not inward, but mind Check, (i. e. other Game, as Crows, &c. that fly cross her) then lure her back, and stooping to it, reward her presently.
The faults of Short-Winged Hawks thus are helped. Sometimes the Goshawk and Sparrow-Hawks, will neither kill, nor Fly the Game to Mark, but will turn Taile to it: Then encourage your Dogs to Hunt, cast a Traine Partridge before your Hawk, make her seize it, and feed well upon it.
If a Hawk take a Tree, and will not fly at all, feed her then upon quick Birds, and make her foot them, and in the plain Champaign Feilds unhood her, and riding up and down a while let one cast out a Feild-Partridge before her, let her fly at it, and footing it feed on it. If they be too fond of Man, that after a stroke or two will not fly, be seldom familiar with her, and reward her not as she comes so improperly: Otherwise reward her well.
As for Mewing of Hawks, the best time for Long-winged Hawks is about the middle of April, and March for the Short-Winged Hawks. There are two kinds of Mewings. 1. At the stock or stone; so called from its being low upon the ground, free from Noise, Vermin or ill Air. 2. At large; so called from being in a high Room, with open Windows towards the North or North-East. The former is accounted the best Mewing. I shall not insist on the erecting or ordering of this Mew, leaving that to the Discretion of the Faulconer; only before he mews his Hawk, see if they have Lice, to pepper and scowre them too. The best time to draw the Field-Hawk from the Mew, is in June, and she will be ready to fly in August; the Hawks for the River in August, will be ready in September. And because Hawks are subject to divers Infirmities and Diseases, I shall prescribe some Remedies, and so Conclude.
Cures for Hawks Diseases.
The good Faulconer ought diligently to observe the Complexions of his Hawks Castings and Mewtings, to judge of their Maladies, and is prescribed by some as an excellent way; and is indeed so; but an assured sign of knowing whether they are sick or distempered is this. Take your Hawk, turning up her Train, if you see her Tuel or Fundiment swelleth, or looketh red; Or, if her Eyes or Eares be of a fiery Complexion, it is an infallible sign of her being not well and in good health; and then Scouring is necessary first; which is done by the most Soveraign Aloes Cicatrine, about the quantity of a Bean, wrapt up in her Meat; and this avoids Grease, and kills Wormes too.
For the Cataract: Take one Scruple of washt Aloes finely beaten, and two Scruples of Sugar-candy, mix these together, and with a Quil blow it three or four times a day into your Hawks Eye.