The goshawk is common in France, Germany, and Russia; it is also found in America, but is rare in Holland.
The goshawk is taken by a net about eight feet deep, and of sufficient length to inclose a square of nine or ten feet. It is suspended to upright stakes, by notches cut upwards, so that it may be disengaged from them, when the hawk strikes against it. This inclosure is left open at the top, and in the middle a pigeon is to be tied to the ground for a bait. The meshes of this net should not be too small, and the colour should be as much as possible like that of the surrounding objects.
The goshawk is termed a hawk of the fist, because it is from thence, and not from the air, that he flies at his game. He is never to be hooded unless for a short time when first taken, or to keep him quiet in travelling. The resting-place of short-winged hawks is called a perch. It is a pole of about an inch and a half in diameter, fixed horizontally about four feet from the ground. It is to be placed under a tree in fine weather, and in some sheltered place when it rains. To the perch is suspended a piece of cloth, or of matting, hanging like a curtain, which assists the hawk in regaining the perch when he has baited off, and prevents him from twisting the leash round it by passing under. The swivel that is fixed to the leash is to be tied close to the top of the perch, and is attached to the jesses by a short leash, six or eight inches long, in such a manner as to be easily taken off when the hawk is to be prepared for flying. He is then to be held on the fist by the jesses, in the same way as the slight falcon.
As the goshawk is carried without a hood, and as he is not to be brought down by the lure, but must come to the fist at the falconer’s call, it is essential that he should be made as tame as possible, and this can only be done by almost constant carriage, and by allowing him frequently to pull upon a stump or pinion, from which he can get but little meat. He will soon learn to come from the perch to the fist, if held close to him when allured by meat. By persevering in this practice, and by cautiously increasing the distance, he will at length be brought to come to the fist, when he is thirty or forty yards off. It is hardly necessary to say, that a creance must always be attached to the leash when these lessons are given, until the hawk is sufficiently reclaimed to be trusted at large, and with this precaution too much must not be required of him at a time. In breaking hawks, and all other animals, much additional trouble is occasioned, and much time is lost in endeavouring to get them on too fast. When the goshawk will come freely to the fist, not only from the perch, but from the ground, and from low trees (on which he should frequently be placed), it will only be necessary to give him a few live partridges in the way that I have described, and he will be ready for the field.—Montagu—Sebright.
Gosling, s. A young goose, a goose not yet full-grown.
Gourdiness, s. A swelling in a horse’s leg.
Gournet, s. A sea-fish, commonly pronounced Gurnet. Of this fish the red is excellent, while the grey sort is coarse and insipid.
Grain, s. A single seed of corn; corn; the seed of any fruit; any minute particle; the smallest weight; anything proverbially small; the direction of the fibres of wood, or other fibrous matter.
Grained, a. Rough, made less smooth.