Accidents and Maladies
The 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 hawk is at all poor in condition.
As for the tail feathers, although they are of less importance to a
hawk's flying, they require almost more care than those of the wing.
In this particular, short-winged hawks, with their very long trains,
are more liable to injury than the others. A very common occasion of
damaging a tail feather arises while a hawk is being broken to the
hood. As the attempt is made to push the hood on and over the head, the
patient flinches and draws back the upper part of her body, forcing
the tail strongly against the wrist of the operator, if this is in
the way. Those feathers upon which the strain bears hardest are very
apt to give way; and even if the awkward falconer has succeeded in
getting the hood on, he finds to his chagrin that he has done so at
the expense of a damaged hawk. It is of course for this reason that I
have advised the tying up of the tail whilst hooding lessons are being
given. In actual flights there are certain risks of injury to tail
feathers, although if they are all in perfect condition these risks are
less than might be supposed. The struggle which occurs on the ground
between the hawk and a robust quarry which is bigger than herself
severely tries these feathers, as the former is obliged to make use of
them to steady herself and resist the efforts of the desperate victim
to upset her or drag her along the ground. The fight between a merlin
and a partridge or pigeon is of comparatively short duration, as the
little hawk, having her foot tightly clenched round the neck of her
captive, is sure of its death within a minute or so. But a sparrow-hawk
battling with a full-grown partridge has a tough job before her, and is
sometimes forced backwards on to her expanded tail, so that it may give
way at any weak spot, if there is one. A goshawk which has bound to a
full-grown hare, or even a big buck rabbit, has even a hotter time of
it.
In double flights, when both hawks have fastened on to the same quarry,
and are dragging at it in the hope of obtaining sole possession, there
is also danger to the tails. I must admit that I know of no case in
which mischief has been done, but it is impossible to watch such a
struggle, while hastening up to interfere, without seeing that it may
be fatal to some of the feathers so roughly used. The arrival of the
falconer on such occasions, in the rôle of mediator, must be welcome
to both hawks; and he should at once catch hold of the quarry by one
wing, and, holding it tight down, proceed to the work of separating the
hawks. When the quarry is a large bird, he will offer to the hawk which
seems to have the least firm hold a substitute for the real quarry,
and get her to devote her attention to it until the arrival of the
second man, when both hawks can be taken up. If both hawks and quarry
are small, the first falconer to come up may catch hold of the pelt and
lift it up, hawks and all, from the ground against which the tails are
being pressed and bent. Once on the fist, the danger is past; and one
or other of the combatants may be handed over, with a tiring to replace
the contested victim, to the next man who comes up. When double flights
are the order of the day, every man who is likely to be up at the death
should wear a glove and carry a spare leash, as well as a morsel of
tiring for use in a possible emergency. He should also, if mounted,
carry a weight and tethering rein at the side of his saddle, so that he
may dismount at any time quickly and run in to the struggling hawks.
When a feather is bent, without any actual breakage of the shaft, it
will come straight if dipped in very hot water, but may not improbably
remain weak for some time at the place where the bend was. Very often
such a bent feather will come straight when the hawk bathes; but it
is just as well to apply the hot-water remedy at once, and if it does
not return to its proper position, there will be little doubt that the
shaft is damaged. Whenever this is the case, the broken part should be
cut neatly off and the feather imped. When the breakage is not near
the end, and consequently in a very thin part of the shaft, the piece
removed can be put on again by imping. But if it is the tip which has
gone, as is only too often the case with beginners, the owner must make
up his mind either to keep and fly his hawk in that damaged condition,
incurring the jibes or pity of facetious or sympathetic friends, or to
undertake the rather delicate operation required for grafting a fresh
feather on the remnant of the old one. Possibly the novice may be
within reach of a professional falconer, or an experienced amateur, who
will come to his rescue, and perform this troublesome job. If so, he
should certainly attend while it is being accomplished, and carefully
note the manner in which the professor sets about it. If not, he must
attempt it himself, and do the best he can by the aid of his own
ingenuity, and perhaps of the following directions:--
Hood the hawk, and have an operating-table ready, on which you have
placed a tolerably stout but soft cushion. Get an assistant to take
firm hold of the patient with both hands round the body, over which
may be previously thrown a silk handkerchief to preserve the feathers.
The assistant should place his hands over the hawk's body with the
palms downwards and the thumbs joined, the tips of his fingers being
towards the hawk's tail, and the wrists over her hood. Lowering them
quickly and gently, and bringing the outer parts of the hands towards
one another, he will get a firm grip round the upper part of the wings
and the thickest part of the body, and will hold the hawk down firmly,
but without unduly squeezing her, upon the cushion, her feet being
pressed down underneath the body. The falconer will thus be free to
operate more boldly upon the feather to which he proposes to direct
his attention. The latter must have provided himself beforehand with
a very sharp penknife, a small saucer of vinegar or strong brine, an
imping-needle of the proper size, and a feather of the proper sort. The
imping-needle should be of iron or steel, filed down lengthwise to a
triangular shape and pointed at the ends. It should be in the middle
about two-thirds as thick as the feather at the place of breakage. The
new feather with which the damaged hawk is to be adorned must exactly
match the one which it is to replace; that is to say, it must have
occupied the same place in the same wing, or the same side of the tail,
in a hawk of the same kind as the one now under treatment. Before
commencing operations, the imping-needle to be used should be immersed
in the bath of vinegar or salt water. With the forefinger and thumb of
the left hand, take hold of the damaged feather just above the place of
breakage, and separate it carefully from the adjacent feathers. Then
with the right hand pass the blade of the penknife obliquely upwards
along the web of the feather on its thinner side till the edge touches
the shaft just above the place of breakage. As soon as it has done
this, turn the blade so that the flat of it, instead of being inclined
obliquely upwards with the edge pointing towards the stouter part of
the feather, is directed downwards in a plane with the web on the broad
side of the feather. Having got it into this position, make a clean cut
right through the shaft so that the portion of it below the blade falls
off. The next thing is to measure off on the loose new feather as much
of the end as will, when fitted on to the other where it has been cut
through, add to it the exact length which it originally had. The shaft
of the new feather must then be cut through at exactly the same angle
or inclination as the other.
Now take an ordinary needle, and stick its point a little way into
the pith of that part of the old feather which has not been cut
off, and afterwards into the pith of the piece of new feather which
is to be grafted on, taking care that the needle goes in straight
down the middle of the pith. Into the small apertures thus made, the
imping-needle will be more easily passed in the proper direction than
if there had been no such preliminary boring. It remains only to effect
the junction of the new and old feather. Before attempting this, dip
the shaft of the new piece into the vinegar, and also moisten the end
of the old feather just above the place where it has been cut. Then
taking the imping-needle, push one half of it into the pith of the new
piece of feather, and the other half into that of the old. By this
means the two will necessarily become one and the same feather. Be
sure, as you push the two together, that their flat surfaces are level
with one another, and not inclined at different angles. When the new
end is pushed home up to the old amputated shaft, it will fit on to it,
and the web on both sides will meet and form a uniform surface. Then
release the hawk and replace her, still hooded, on the screen-perch,
where she must be left quite quiet. It is a good plan to do the imping
in the evening, so that very soon afterwards the hawk will naturally be
ready to go to sleep; and if the hood is to be left on, her last meal
should, of course, have been without castings. If not, the room where
her perch is should be darkened. She is less likely, when in the dark
or hooded, to meddle with the mended feather; and when it has been left
alone for twelve hours, the needle will have begun to rust in the pith
of it, and thus be firmly stuck fast at both ends.
When skilfully and neatly performed, the operation of imping not only
replaces effectually the part of a feather which has become useless,
but repairs the mischief so thoroughly that no trace whatever remains
of any injury having ever been done to it. I have known feathers so
imped that the eye could not discern the place of juncture, and it was
difficult even to discover it by passing the thumb-nail down the shaft
of the imped feather. The tenacity of the rusted iron keeps the needle
immovably in its place; and an imped feather, if it afterwards breaks
at all, will break more readily in any part of it than near the place
where the juncture has been made. Of course the smaller the hawk the
more difficult is the operation. Merlins are particularly troublesome,
owing to their vivacity and the smallness of their feathers. It is,
however, quite possible for an experienced imper to mend up one of
these tiny hawks, even without an assistant to help him in holding her
down.
The falconer should keep by him, in a box or drawer where they are safe
from moths, a few feathers in readiness for imping the kind of hawks
which he flies. When he is in the habit of moulting them he will be
able to supply his needs by saving up the long feathers dropped in the
moult. These should be so stowed away that it is possible to identify
the year in which they were dropped; for it is not advisable to use
a very old feather, as it may be brittle, and crack in pieces round
the needle. A spare tail feather or two of any of the hawks which are
most commonly trained may often be begged from a brother-falconer. But
when a ger, saker, or one of the rarer falcons needs imping, it may
be necessary to purchase a whole skin, which will entail some trouble
and expense. It should be noted that there is one exception to the
rule that a feather from any one kind of hawk must not be used for
one of another kind. This is when the broken feather is to be imped
merely for the purpose of the moult. Whenever hawks are moulting,
the new feathers, as they come down, must be protected on each side
by others of at least equal length to those of the natural plumage.
But unless the hawk is being flown while she moults, it is immaterial
whether the new feather matches the others in shape or colour. If it
is long enough, and of about equal breadth, it will serve the required
purpose. But every hawk before going into moult should be well set up
in feathers of one kind or other, which are of a proper length and
sufficient strength. A new feather, while growing down, needs more
protection than any other.
If a feather is broken so high up that the shaft at the place of
fracture is hollow, there are at least two ways in which it may be
mended. The simplest is to slit the shaft on its under side, and then,
cutting off the base of the new feather which is intended to be used,
push the latter in bodily to the hollow of the old shaft. When it is
far enough in, pass a small needle with strong waxed thread right
through both quills, starting from below, and, winding the two ends
of the thread round the quills in opposite directions, tie tightly
together underneath the feather. When the feather is big enough there
may be two such lashings of thread, one a little lower down than the
other. A second plan, which is known as plugging, consists in first
stuffing up the hollow quill, of the injured feather, above where
it has been cut through, with a chunk of some feather which is not
hollow, but has a solid pith. The plug thus inserted is firmly fixed
in by means of some glutinous compound. When it has had time to
become immovably settled in its place the imping can be done with an
imping-needle in the ordinary way, the new piece of feather having been
plugged also in a similar way, if necessary. If a feather should have
been pulled out, base and all, it is advisable to put some solid grease
into the place, to keep it from closing up and preventing the new
feather from growing down.
When only the tip of a wing feather is gone it would of course be only
for the sake of appearances that it would be imped. Considering that
wild hawks, and some trained ones also, kill quarry while they are
moulting, and have four or more of their biggest feathers wanting,
or only half-grown, at the same time, it would be a bad hawk which
could not fly passably because she was short of an inch square of the
sail area she ought to spread. Occasionally, as for instance when you
have not long to wait before the moult will begin, you may leave a
hawk unimped though she is very ragged. But the worst of allowing any
feather to remain with its end off is that the next feathers to it,
especially in the tail, are pretty sure to go too. The strain which
the tail has to bear is such as it can just resist by the collective
strength of all the feathers together; but when one is unable to
take its full share of the resistance, the others are unequal to the
pressure, and give way. What difference in a hawk's flying power does
the loss of a whole feather or half a feather imply? It is, of course,
quite impossible to say. But arguing from the analogy of pigeons, the
tails of which are sometimes removed in order to increase their speed,
it would seem that in mere straight-forward flying the tail is of very
small assistance. I once had an eyess jack-merlin sent to me from the
nest in a deplorable condition. The tail was clogged at the end with
dirt, and so many of the tail feathers were bent and broken that he
was at once christened "Tagrag"; and while he was at hack was regarded
as unworthy of much attention. By the time he was ready to enter, his
tail, which it had not been thought worth while to mend, was reduced
to about half its proper length, more than an inch having been knocked
off every one of the feathers. This hawk developed later on into the
fastest hawk I ever saw. When he was out on his own account, as he
was once for seven days together, he could be distinguished from a
wild merlin less by the stumpy tail than by the headlong speed with
which he flew, even when not in pursuit of anything. When engaged in a
double flight he would put in about three stoops to two of the other
hawk; and these were not only more quickly made, but were longer,
straighter, and more telling. This hawk was an exceptionally good one.
He was the brother (though senior by a year) of Queen and Jubilee,
which between them killed 200 larks, in single flights, in one season.
He was therefore no doubt naturally a very fast hawk; but I mention
him in order to show how little difference, in his case, was made in
his flying power by the loss of nearly half a tail. I have also flown
merlins at the lure, when in course of being broken to the hood, with
their tails tied up, and noticed how admirably they stoop and throw
up, without apparently being incommoded by the temporary inability to
spread out their tails.
* * * * *
Much more serious and alarming than the breakage of a feather is the
fracture of a bone. When the hawk is a favourite, a cure is often
attempted, and occasionally with success. I have known a peregrine to
be shot at and brought down with a broken wing, and to recover without
any treatment at all; but this was no doubt a very exceptional case.
Usually any grave damage to the wing, whether by way of a sprain or
a fracture, is incurable. The bones of the leg are more get-at-able,
more easily set, and subjected, when set, to less strain than those of
the wing. Splints and bandages should be applied (though it is very
difficult to adjust a bandage to the wing) under the direction and
advice, if possible, of some person who has a good practical knowledge
of surgery. The hawk, after being operated upon, should be placed in
a sock as described in Chapter V., and fed by the hand with strips of
washed meat or light food without castings. Before the sock is put on
it must be ascertained that the injured limb has been placed in the
natural position; and every precaution must be taken that the patient
is left undisturbed, so that it is impossible, or at least unlikely,
that she should displace the setting which has been attempted.
Hawks are sometimes troubled with a weakness in the outer joint of the
wing, causing the outer part of it, where the primaries are, to droop.
The affection is more or less pronounced in different cases, sometimes
being so severe that the wing seems to hang down powerless, as if
merely hooked on loosely at the joint, and at other times merely to be
a little out of place and to be carried slightly lower than the other.
Occasionally the weakness is so great that the hawk cannot fly, while
at other times, after perhaps wobbling a little when thrown off, the
hawk, once fairly on the wing, seems to fly almost or quite as well as
if there was nothing the matter. Generally a hawk which is so affected
keeps hitching up the bad wing, as it were, into its proper place,
only to find it droop again in a few minutes into its old position.
The old writers, who were well acquainted with the symptoms, say that
the injury is one which must have arisen from a blow received by the
hawk; but I have known it come on suddenly at a time when the sufferer
could hardly have come by such an accident without its being observed.
The following is a prescription given by Turbervile for curing the
malady:--"Master Cassian (a Greek falconer of Rhodes) sayeth that yee
must take Sage, Myntes, and Pelamountaine, and boyle them all togyther
in a new earthen pot full of good wyne, and when they bee well sodden,
take the potte and set it uppon hotte imbers as close stopped as maye
bee. Then make a rounde hole of the bygnesse of an Apple in the clothe
that your potte is stopped withal for the steam to issue out at. Which
done, take your Hawke upon your fiste and holde out hir hurte wing
handsomely a great whyle over the hole, that it may take the fume
whiche steameth up out of the potte. Afterwarde lette hir be well dryed
by keeping hir warme by the fire, for if she should catche sodaine cold
upon it, it would becomme woorse than it was before. Use her thus twyce
a daye for three or foure dayes togyther, and shee shall bee recovered."
The beak and nares of a hawk should be kept clean, and a good falconer
will, after she has finished her meal, wipe off any remnants of food
or blood which may remain attached to the upper mandible. Unless this
is done--sometimes, indeed, in spite of its being done--the nostrils
and upper parts of the cere, where the feathers begin, may become
infested with acari, or mites, which, unless destroyed, will eat into
the horn and the flesh and cause great annoyance, if not actual sores
and inflamed ulcers. Hawks which are in low condition are particularly
subject to this pest; but at all times a sharp look-out should be
kept, so as to detect the presence of the minute parasites, which may
be seen running about somewhere near the nostrils. Fortunately it is
easy to get rid of them. A solution of tobacco soaked in water should
be made, and mixed with brandy or some strong spirit, and then applied
with a small brush to the parts visited by the parasites. After a few
applications they will be found to have disappeared.
Hawks will often get corns on their feet if allowed to stand constantly
on hard blocks or perches. It is strange enough that there should be
found any falconers who have so little thought for the comfort of their
charges that they will use such resting-places. The screen-perch, at
all events, which is kept permanently indoors, should have a padding
of some kind--cloth, baize, or soft leather--underneath the canvas or
sacking upon which the hawk has to stand. One of the cruellest of all
the cruel things done in zoological gardens is the neglect to pad the
miserable perches provided for the birds of prey, which are usually
in consequence seen to have their feet adorned plentifully with corns
and deformities. What with bad food, bad resting-places, and defective
bathing accommodation, these poor captives are usually types of what
the falconer should wish that his hawks may not become.
Of actual illnesses trained hawks undoubtedly have their full share.
The old books devote many lengthy chapters to the description of these
disorders, and of the remedies recommended for them. How far the
elaborate concoctions prescribed by mediæval quacks and used, as it is
to be presumed, by their very credulous customers, were efficacious in
curing the evils for which they were prescribed, it is not easy to say.
For in modern times we do not put much faith in nostrums of any such
kind. But as the ancients certainly killed with their hawks several
species of quarry which we hardly attempt in these days, it may not
unreasonably be supposed that some of their medicines were at least
useful in stimulating the energies of their patients, and inspiring
them with a sort of artificial courage such as the Asiatic falconers
still impart by the use of sal ammoniac and other powerful drugs. It
is, I think, more than probable that the hobby, which has not for a
long time past been successfully trained, was brought by physicking
into such condition that she would fly keenly and well, and deserved
the praises which some of the old writers lavish upon her. In the palmy
days of falconry it was not only when a hawk was actually ill that
physic was given. If she did not acquit herself in the field with all
the credit expected by her trainer, he dosed her almost as a matter
of course. Remedies of a more or less fanciful kind were supposed to
exist for almost every failing which hawk-flesh is heir to; and the
medicine-cupboard of a falconer who professed to know anything about
physicking his charges must have contained as many herbs, spices,
powders, decoctions, and tinctures as would stock a small druggist's
shop. As far as I know, no modern falconer has had the patience or
temerity to test the value of these multifarious pills and potions.
The state of health of a hawk may be ascertained by various signs, more
or less infallible. Mutes, castings, and the general demeanour furnish
the most obvious symptoms; but the books, which bestow a vast amount
of attention upon the two former, are much too silent as to the latter
and more subtle indication of an incipient malady. The falconer should
always observe the colour of every hawk's mutes. If she is kept for
any long time at a stretch upon a screen-perch under which the sawdust
or sand is so thickly strewn as to absorb them altogether, a piece of
paper must be placed occasionally under the perch, which will enable
him to make the necessary inspection. And at the first appearance of
anything wrong the proper remedy should be applied. The mutes of a hawk
in good health should be of an almost uniform bright white colour, and
of the consistency of the whiting with which a lawn-tennis ground is
usually marked out. If there are specks of black in them there is no
cause for alarm, but these should not be abundant or large in size. If
any other colour is to be seen there is something amiss; and if the
mutes are either watery or too thick the hawk is not in proper health.
The sooner these symptoms are detected and the right steps taken the
easier will be the cure; and in most cases a diet of freshly-killed
birds given in moderation twice a day will set matters right without
any resort to strong measures. If, however, the discoloration is
great, and appears suddenly, a dose should be at once given before
the sufferer loses her appetite and becomes unable to retain food or
anything else in her crop.
Castings are easily found under the perch or round the block, though
when hawks are tied very near to one another on the same screen-perch
it is sometimes difficult enough to know which of them has thrown
a casting which is picked up between her and her neighbour. The
appearance of them should always be noticed before they are thrown
away. They should be more or less egg-shaped and compact, with no great
amount of oily matter adhering to the outside. The colour should be
rather darker than that of the feathers, fur, wool, or whatever else
has been taken to form the casting; and if it is not so, it is a sign
that the crop is foul. A hawk in good health should also cast within
a reasonable time after the casting has been swallowed; and otherwise
you may suspect that the gorge is clogged. A hawk which has been fed
late even in a summer evening should throw up her casting before eight
at latest on the following morning. When a hawk is slow at casting,
she should be carried a bit, and will then often cast on the fist, or
immediately upon being put off it on to the block. A wild merlin will
often eat the whole of a small bird between 8 and 9 a.m., put it over
by about 2 p.m., cast, and then begin to look out for the evening meal.
A trained hawk may cast well and have fairly good mutes, and yet be
all the better for a small dose. If she has a dull eye and stands
stolidly on her block without taking notice of passing birds; if she
eats without zest, or flies without animation; if, when standing on the
fist, she takes a weak grip with her feet, or puffs out her feathers
without cause, or folds her wings loosely together, she may indeed be
healthy enough to get a doctor's certificate, but she is not in the
sort of fettle to do herself justice in the field. In such case do
not, like some falconers who ought to know better, begin calling the
hawk names, and neglect her, while bestowing extra attention upon one
which exhibits more aptitude. Remember that in the wild state there is
no such thing as a bad hawk. All find their living, even in the worst
weather, and find it although continually plagued and thwarted by the
knowledge that if they go within gunshot of a man they will probably
be murdered. Cannot a trained hawk, well housed and regularly fed, and
freed from the constant fear of gun and trap, be made as fast and as
clever even as the worst of her wild brethren? Falconers must be a long
way behind the professors of other arts and crafts if they cannot make
their trained pets at least nearly as good as the wild and untrained.
There is perhaps more delight in flying a hawk which is never out
of sorts and always naturally ready to do her best. But it is more
creditable to the trainer, and a greater test of his skill, if he can
impart excellence where he found little sign of it, and in short make a
bad hawk fly well. The Indian native falconers--from whom, by the way,
we have a lot to learn--habitually fly some of their favourite hawks,
such as the saker, under the stimulus of strong drugs; and there can
be no doubt that many hawks of all species are bettered by frequent
dosing, just as a Chinaman by opium, and certain literary celebrities
by absinthe. In some cases these doses supply more or less effectually
the lack of exercise from which a trained hawk suffers, and in other
cases possibly they act as an antidote to the feeling of annoyance and
discontent arising from captivity and confinement.
As to the particular remedy to be applied when a bird is thus out of
sorts without being absolutely ill, I fear the reader must be referred
to one of the old text-books, and not alarmed by quotations at length
from their well-garnished pages. The mischief proceeds, of course,
either from excessive cold or excessive heat in the system, which will
require consequently either heating or cooling medicine. For the former
purpose, spices and peppers will be preferred, with fatty substances,
such as oil or bacon; while for the latter, purgatives may be used,
and meat washed in the juice of certain vegetable products, such as
endive, cucumber, or melon. If the malady is so strong as to amount to
fever, the hawk's feet may be bathed with water distilled from lettuce,
plantain, or nightshade, or the juice of henbane. If, however, the
earliest symptoms are noted, it will generally serve all purposes to
give hot feeds, _i.e._ birds just killed, in the case of cold, and
washed meat in the case of too great heat. Those who are not content
to wait for such symptoms, but prefer a prophylactic treatment, may
perhaps be satisfied with the following prescription: "If you intend to
keepe and maintayne your Falcons and all other Hawkes in health, take
Germander, Pelamountayne, Basill, Grimel-sede, and Broome flowers, of
each of them halfe an ownce; of Isop, of Saxifrage, of Polipodic, and
of Horse-mintes, of each of them a quarter of an ownce; of Nutmegges,
a quarter of an ownce; of Cucubes, Borage, Mummy, Mogemort, Sage, of
the four kinds of Mirobolans, Indorum, Kabulorum, Beliricorum, and
Embelicorum, of each of them halfe an ownce; of Saffron, an ownce;
and of Aloes Cicotrine, the fifth part of an ownce. All these things
confect to a powder, and at every eygth day, or at every twelfth day,
give your Hawkes (the big ones, that is) the quantitie of a beane of it
with their meate. And if they will not take it so, put it in a Henne's
gutte, tied at both ends, or else after some other meanes, so as ye
cause them to receive it downe; and lette them stand emptie one houre
after." A more simple preventive medicine is Aloes Cicotrine alone,
given every eighteen days as an emetic, just after the hawk has cast,
and followed in two hours' time by a warm meal.
Coming now to specific maladies, the commonest and not the least
dangerous of the complaints to which trained hawks are subject is
the "croaks" or "kecks," an affection of the throat akin to what is
called bronchitis in the human patient. Its existence is betrayed by
a wheezing or hoarseness, noticeable as the hawk breathes. In slight
cases the sound is scarcely audible, and only very occasionally; but
when the attack is a bad one, the breath is impeded, and the invalid
appears to be suffering from a sort of asthma. These severe attacks
sometimes come on suddenly in bad weather, and generally prove fatal;
but the milder attacks, if attended to in time, may often be mastered
and vanish permanently. The cause is usually the same as that which
would in men induce a cold in the head or throat,--a chill caused by
sudden changes of temperature, excessive cold, or, most frequently
of all, excessive damp. The remedy is to put the sufferer in a warm
and dry place, and to give the most palatable and nourishing food in
moderate quantities at reasonably short intervals, with a peppercorn or
mustard-seed now and then. Freshly-killed birds are the best diet; but
if sheep's heart or butcher's meat is given, it should be first warmed
a little. The hawk should not be left out of doors after midday, or
in a place exposed to the wind. Strangely enough, gers, whose habitat
is in more northern latitudes than any other hawks, are the most
susceptible of all to this malady; and special care should be taken,
therefore, that they are not allowed to be in damp or draughty places.
Cramp is a terrible disorder, also caused by damp or cold. It is
specially apt to attack the short-winged hawks, and is, I believe,
always fatal. Eyess sparrow-hawks taken too early from the nest are
pretty sure to develop it when there is no maternal wing to cover them
at night. Possibly by keeping them in an artificial nest in a warm
place the mischief might be averted; but the slightest chill seems
to bring it on, and when once it takes hold of the feet and legs it
appears to paralyse and permanently disable them. Beginning with a
mere stiffness in the joints, it increases in malignity until the
sufferer loses the use of one or more limbs, and then often paralyses
the muscles of the back. When the very first symptoms of anything like
stiffness appear in a goshawk or sparrow-hawk, no matter of what age,
she should be taken at once into quite a warm place, and the affected
limb fomented with hot water and embrocations. Unless these remedies
speedily give relief the most humane thing to do is to put the hawk out
of her misery at once. In this matter not only is prevention better
than cure, it is the only means known of combating the dreaded disease.
Ague, or a low fever nearly resembling it, attacks hawks much in the
same way as human beings. There are shivering fits and alternations
of hot and cold, which may be discovered by feeling the body with the
hand. The cause is often exposure to cold after becoming heated by
flying or standing in the sun, or confinement in a draughty or cold
place. The sufferer droops her wings, and looks miserable generally.
She should be put in a sheltered place, rather warm than cold, and fed
often, sparingly, on the best light food that is to be had. When the
hot or cold fit is on she should be left as quiet as possible, but
when it goes off she should be carried, and even flown a little, if
she will; and she should by no means be left alone in any dismal place
without company. When her attention is occupied she will have less
inclination to mope or give way to the malady, and is much more likely
to improve. If the affection is obstinate and the hot fits frequent,
about two scruples of rhubarb may be given (for a falcon) in a casting
of cotton wool, followed after two or three hours by a moderate meal
of something freshly killed and light. If, however, the shivering fits
predominate, or the hawk has become low in condition and has a poor
appetite, the dose must be administered with caution and in moderation,
and the patient should be coaxed and induced to take as much as she
will, up to half a crop, of some heating food, such as freshly-killed
sparrows, which are best of all, pigeons, or, in case of a goshawk,
young rats; and if at a subsequent meal a sheep's heart is given (which
such hawks can very easily pick at) it may be washed in wine in which
has been boiled sage, mint, cinnamon, cloves, or some such aromatic
herb. In all cases the invalid must be petted and made much of until
she has regained her robust health and appetite.
Apoplexy is no doubt the disorder most commonly fatal to trained hawks
of the short-winged varieties. It was called by the ancients the
falling evil, and it has carried off quite suddenly many a first-rate
goshawk almost without any warning at all. And it is probably more
to be feared in these days when the use of washed meat has been so
generally abandoned. The cause of this effusion of blood on the brain
is over-fulness of body or an accumulation of internal fat; and in
order to guard against it care should be taken to avoid overfeeding
a hawk with strong, heating, or fattening viands. Merlins are also
very subject to apoplexy when short of exercise, and peregrines are
by no means exempt from it. When any hawk is fat or full-blooded, any
exposure to a hot sun, or any violent or unaccustomed exercise, or
bating off and hanging head downwards, may cause a determination of
blood to the brain; and death will follow without the chance of even
attempting a cure. It is well, therefore, especially when any hawk
is not taking daily exercise, and plenty of it, not only to avoid
overfeeding, but also from time to time to give a purge and an emetic.
One of the simplest prescriptions is lard or butter, well washed, and
then steeped in rose-water, and given with a little powdered sugar.
Apostume of the head is called by Turbervile a "monstrous accident,"
and a "very grievous evil," and said by him to be infectious. "It is
discerned by ye swelling of ye hawke's eyes, by the moysture which
sundrie tymes issueth and distilleth from the eares, and often eake
by evyll savoure and smell of the apostume." The invalid is inert,
and cares little for her food, and will not pull at her tirings. The
remedies he recommends are exceptionally commonplace. First, butter,
well washed in rose-water, with honey of roses and powdered sugar.
Then afterwards, for the relief of her poor head, rue, 4 grains; Aloes
Epatie, 2 drams; saffron, 1 scruple, to be finely powdered and made
into a pill with honey of roses. If the ear is stopped up, clear it
with lint on a silver bodkin or needle, and, having infused warm oil
of sweet almonds, stop it with another piece of lint. Which failing of
success, he gives directions for cauterising, for which the original,
or some surgeon, should be consulted.
Another sort of swelling in the head which affects the nares as well
as the eyes, and is nothing else but a catarrh, may, it seems, often
be cured by a pill made of agaric, 2 scruples; cinnamon, 1; liquorice,
1, powdered and mixed with honey of roses. The sufferer should be made
to sneeze by giving her--not snuff, as one might expect, but pepper,
cloves, and mustard-seed, powdered, and blown into the nares through a
quill, or rubbed on to the nares and palate. After these, or indeed any
doses have been administered, it is well to carry the hawk on the fist
till they have taken effect.
For suffusion of the eye a purge of aloes or agaric is recommended, and
local treatment by blowing the powder of aloes and sugar-candy into the
eye.
Frounce is a malady which will pronounce itself sometimes without
much apparent cause. The mucous membrane of the mouth and throat is
inflamed, and the tongue swelled and coated with a brownish white
matter. This coating should be scraped off with a quill or silver
knife, and the mouth dressed with burnt alum and vinegar, or a weak
solution of nitrate of silver. The dressing may be done with a piece of
lint on a small stick. Another lotion is made by taking the leaves of
woodbine, with sage, honey, and alum, and seething them till the leaves
are quite soft, and straining the decoction through a cloth.
Inflammation of the crop may be the result of bad food or neglect to
give proper castings. The first signs of it will be in the castings
themselves, which may be discoloured or misshapen, and sometimes
charged with undigested food. In aggravated cases the mutes may be
reddish, and the hawk may often throw up her food, and be unable to
keep anything down. A purge and an emetic should be given before this
stage is reached; and great care must be taken not to overload the
crop, or to give anything which will nauseate the hawk. If the malady
has been neglected, it becomes dangerous and very difficult to cure.
The hawk wastes away, and it may be a long time before you are able to
restore her strength--if you pull her through at all.
Pantas is an old name given to a malady of the liver, when it becomes
hot and dried up. The hawk is costive, and opens her beak often, as
if gasping for more air. The mutes are blackish, thick, and scanty.
Amongst numerous remedies in vogue are olive oil, oil of sweet almonds,
and sugar-candy, with butter or lard, washed in rose-water. Of course
no heating food should be given, such as sparrows, rats, or old
pigeons. Powdered cloves and cubebes may be given in a casting every
three or four days. The liver is almost as apt to get out of order
in trained hawks as it is in untrained men. Green mutes, as well as
black ones, betray the mischief, and warn the falconer. A purgative,
such as those last mentioned, will be the first remedy; but it must
be followed by great care in the subsequent feeding. A more fanciful
remedy consists of snails steeped in asses' milk, and used as a washing
for sheep's heart, which is soaked in it.
Megrim, or palsy, is denoted by a shaking of the hawk's head. Pepper,
aloes, and cloves may be given, with a little washed lard.
When a hawk is troubled with worms she is fidgety, and has startings
and twitchings of the body, and falls away in condition. Mustard-seed,
aloes, and agaric are prescribed, and cayenne pepper may be given with
her food. Filanders are a sort of worm more difficult to suspect, and
more difficult to get rid of. One remedy is garlic, long steeped in
oil; and if this fails, iron filings, with oil of bitter almonds, may
be tried.
Hawks, if kept clean and frequently encouraged to bathe, are not
much troubled with parasites. Young merlins from the nest are often
infected with a flying tick, which does them no particular harm, and
usually disappears when the little hawks begin to bathe. The way to
get rid of them is to paint the body with a decoction of tobacco
mixed with brandy. This is also the remedy for lice, which peregrines
will sometimes get from a rook which they have killed. The same wash
is to be applied to the nares and forehead of a hawk when troubled
with mites. These very minute insects--otherwise called acarus or
formica--sometimes establish themselves in and near the nostrils,
and may be seen running about rapidly over the beak. They cause great
annoyance, and if not put an end to will eat into the horn of the
beak, and cause inflammation and other serious mischief. They dislike,
however, the tobacco wash, and cannot keep their ground against it.
Corns and swelled feet are the result almost invariably of standing on
hard and unpadded blocks or perches. They are, of course, both painful
and also highly detrimental to the efficiency of a hawk, whose feet as
a weapon of attack are only second in importance to her wings. The corn
must be cut out, or the inflamed swelling lanced, and the foot must be
bathed with some lotion, such as white of egg, vinegar, and rose-water,
or with tincture of iodine. A very well-padded perch must be used
afterwards, and a fortifying lotion frequently applied. Inflammation
is sometimes set up by the prick of a thorn, when a hawk has trod upon
a bramble, or grasped it when making a grab at a quarry which has put
into a hedge. The worst form of corn is called "pin," and is pointed
like a nail. Lancing and lotions may cure it; but it is an obstinate
complaint, often incurable; and the various unguents prescribed by
ancient authors seem none of them to have been used with any great
success.
When a claw or talon is broken by any accident, the falconer is advised
to apply to it a plaster made of the gallbladder of a fowl, and to fit
a sort of collar round the hawk's neck to act as a guard, so that she
cannot touch the place with her beak. The same thing may be done when
a hawk has a wound or sore on the foot, and keeps picking at it, a
practice not uncommon with merlins, which will actually eat away their
own feet.
The blain is a watery vesicle in the second joint of the wing. It
should be lanced, and the hawk kept quiet until the wing is strong
again.
For a "snurt," or cold in the head, Bert recommends the root of wild
primrose dried in an oven and powdered. The powder is to be blown
into the nares of the hawk. Or the leaves of the wild primrose may be
distilled, and the nares bathed with the juice.
Craye is a stoppage in the "tewel," or lower bowel. It is said that the
meat should be washed in distilled haws, or a decoction of primprivet,
or drawn through milk warm from the cow.
Rye is a swelling in the head, which is said to be produced by keeping
the hawk without hot meat, and is cured in the way which may be
conjectured.
Prynne is a malady of the eyes, for which it is recommended to bathe
them with the juice of daisy leaves, or a decoction of powdered
egg-shell, yolk of hard-boiled egg, and a quarter as much rock alum.
For a bruise Bert advises clarified honey, boiled with half as much
stone pitch.
Some old writers declare that a hawk's appetite may be improved by
steeping her meat in claret and the yolk of an egg; that when she
is slow at casting, or in digesting her food, she should have a
mustard-seed made up with honey into a pill. In such cases she should
certainly have plenty of tirings; and fresh water should be kept within
her reach, so that she may sip it at any time if so inclined. Sweet
things are good for a goshawk, which is something of a sweet-tooth.
A good scouring for a sparrow-hawk is pounded sugar-candy and butter
mixed with beef. Sugar-candy and olive oil are both good purgatives
for getting rid of the internal fat or grease. For giving a tone
to the stomach, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger are beneficial. And the
most celebrated of all ingredients for compounding hawk medicines is
"mummy." One very distinguished modern falconer, having read in the
ancient books endless references to this medicament, wrote to another
equally distinguished authority to ask, "What is mummy?" The answer,
which is too good not to be repeated here, was, "Mummy is mummy." That
is perhaps as much as the greatest Egyptologist can say!