Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...

on falcons and hawks, telling about what types of falcons are good for hunting, how to
raise and train the young, what kind of furniture is necessary to keep them, and devices to
tame wild hawks. Here also he states what he believes the main goal of falconry should
be: to possess the best hunting birds: "The falconer's primary aspiration should be to
possess hunting birds that he has trained through his own ingenuity to capture the quarry
he desires in the manner he prefers. The actual taking of prey should be a secondary
c~nsideration."~~
He goes into more detail in Chapter XLVIII about the qualifications of a good
falconer: he must be proficient in all falconry responsibilities, have wisdom and
ingenuity, and a desire to bring the sport closer to perfection, he must love the work
involved, and be of even temper with no bad habits such as drunkenness. Physically, he
must be of medium height and build, have good eyesight and hearing, be able to swim,
and have a good carrying voice.53
He also discusses how and when to take falcons from the wild, and makes a
distinction in Chapter XXX between nestlings, taken from the nest, and branchers, who
are old enough that they have left their nests of their own accord, or, in Italian, nidaci and
ramenghi, an important distinction to poetry. He states that the branchers are by far
better hunters, for they grow better and stronger in the wild, eating their proper food.54
Frederick spends a good deal of time explaining how to tame falcons and
describing the necessary equipment. The taming of the falcon and particularly the
equipment involved are often mentioned in Italian literature; it is important to be
conversant with them. Much of this is discussed in Chapters XXXVII through XLI of
5' Ibid., 105.
53 Ibid., 150.
54 Ibid., 128.