The art and practice of hawking - Modern Prepper

THE
CHAPTER XVI
Accidents and Maladies
care of a hawk's feathers is a very important and
elementary part of the falconer's duties. If he is naturally
clumsy or careless, and yet hopes to do any good in this
vocation, he must be continually on his guard against a mishap.
Experience and persistent watchfulness will cure him of these
defects, or at least deprive them of any very bad effects. But
an innate adroitness is certainly much to be desired in any
youth whom it is intended to train up as a falconer. The most
important of a hawk's feathers are exactly those which are most
easily broken. A single vigorous flap of the wing against any
hard obstacle within reach of them may very likely knock off
the end of one or two of the long flight feathers, or at least
fracture the shaft where it is quite thin, so that the end below
the injury has to be taken off and the feather mended. Great
care must therefore be taken in carrying a hawk that no
such hard substance is ever so near to her that by a sudden
movement she can strike it with either wing. Narrow doorways
should be avoided entirely, or never entered unless the
hawk is hooded and quite quiet on the fist. When walking
through a gateway or near an iron railing, stile, post, carriage,
or branch of a tree, give it a wide berth. When mounting a
horse with a hawk on the hand, get up on the wrong, i.e. the
off, side— unless, of course, you carry your hawk habitually on
the right hand, like the Indian falconers. Never wear a hat
with a hard brim. It is impossible for you to be sure that at
some unexpected moment a hawk, hooded or unhooded, will not
by a sudden movement just touch the edge with a wing feather.
The wing feathers of the short-winged hawks are more
yielding and elastic than the straighter ones of the long-winged,
and will stand a greater strain. Worst of all are merlins,
whose principal feathers are almost brittle, especially when the
15