FOOTNOTES:
[76] The author, writing from hearsay, has imagined the Shikra (Astur badius) to be a separate species from the Pīqū. In India, shikras are flown, or rather cast, at partridges, quails, mainās, and common crows. Vide also note to scavenger vulture.
[77] Kulāg͟h-i ablaq; the Royston crow, the common crow of Persia, is a different species from the common crow of India. The Royston or Hooked Crow is, for a falcon, a far easier quarry than the rook.
[78] Muhammadans frequently qualify their statements by some such expression, the inference being that men are prone to err and that exact knowledge lies with God alone. It is related of the Prophet that once, on being asked how many legs his horse had, he dismounted, counted with care, and then said, “Four.” Had he made a positive statement from memory, the Almighty might have altered the number to two, or to three, and so convicted him of error.
CHAPTER VI
THE SERPENT EAGLE
We now come to the Serpent Eagle,[79] so well known to every fowler. Should one be desired as a pet, it can either be captured by any of the ordinary fowler’s devices, or else taken with a chark͟h trained to eagles.[80] It must be fed principally on snakes, as it will not thrive on any other food.
FOOTNOTES:
[79] Sanj. Perhaps the Common Serpent Eagle (Circaëtus gallicus). The author in two lines of imperfect description—omitted in the translation—also states that in size and appearance it so nearly resembles the buzzard (sār), vide p. 32, note [133], that even an experienced falconer might easily mistake the two. The author does not include this amongst the ʿUqāb or Eagles, vide Chapter XII.
[80] For this poaching flight, vide pages 113-114.