[38] In the adult shikra (wild caught), the iris is sometimes a deep red and sometimes a bright yellow. In “eyess” shikras, even after the moult, the iris is frequently almost colourless, the result perhaps of confinement in dark native houses.
[39] “Cast of hawks, i.e., two; not necessarily a pair.”—Harting.
[40] A contemporary of Napoleon.
[41] Lāziqī T., is said to be the name of a white flower: this is said to be the same as the gul-i rāziqī P., a kind of jasmine (the bel phul of the Hindus).
[42] A similar belief is current in parts of England with regard to the cuckoo, which, by some country people, is supposed to mate with the wryneck or “cuckoo’s mate.”
[43] This Ḥusayn ʿAlī Mīrzā was apparently the father of the author.
[44] The chukor (Caccabis chukor) of India and kabk of Persia, with its “joyous laughter,” enters largely into Oriental fable. On account of its cheery cry, it is a favourite cage-bird with both Hindus and Muslims. The male is also trained to fight. It is not an uncommon sight to see a man strolling along the road with a chukor, or a grey partridge, trotting behind him like a little fox terrier.
[45] “‘Reclaim,’ v. Fr. réclamer, to make a hawk tame, gentle, and familiar.”—Harting.
[46] Mīsh-murg͟h, lit. “sheep-bird” (Otis tarda). In Albin’s Natural History of Birds, it is stated that the goshawk used to be flown at geese and cranes as well as at partridges and pheasants. In Hume’s Rough Notes, there is an account by Mr. R. Thompson of hawking with the goshawk in the forests of Gurhwal and the Terai, the quarry killed being jungle fowl, kālij pheasants, hares, peacocks, ducks and teal. The peacock knows well how to use its formidable feet and legs as weapons of defence, and is a more dangerous quarry than even the common crane.
[47] Qizil T., means “red.”