Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/838

820, and other varieties or species of eagle are employed. Owls are sometimes trained, but are good only for hunting at night.

Every Turcoman has at least one of these trained birds, of breed and size corresponding with his fortune. They may be seen sitting on their perches in the rear of the bazaars and in the meanest shops, where they are made as much of as any other domestic animal. Whenever their owner goes out for any long distance over the plains, he takes his bird on his wrist or on the horn of his saddle, and if any game crosses his track launches the falcon out against it, as surely as a European or American would shoot at it. The falcon, let loose, flies till it is directly over the game, and then pounces down upon it in a dizzy fall which requires to be directed with the most exact precision, for, with his wings folded, he descends in the perpendicular line, by the sheer force of his weight, and may strike the game or not. If he fails, the hunter draws him in and holds him ready to be sprung at the next victim.

Birds intended to be used in falconry are taken from the nests when very young and trained from the beginning. They are easily found, for, there being no trees in the steppes, they are obliged to nest on the ground or in bushes. Adult birds can also be captured and made useful, and this is done among the Arabs as it formerly was in Europe. One of the methods of catching them is ingenious and curious. Pebbles as large as the bird can swallow without great inconvenience are dipped in blood, which is allowed to curdle on their surface, and are put in places which the hawks frequent. The birds swallow them greedily till they are so weighted down that they can not fly away. The hunters then come up and take them by hand.

As the purpose of central Asian falconry is different from that which was sought in European falconry in the middle ages, different qualities are prized in the birds. Originally, indeed, the purpose was the same in both regions—namely, to capture game which could not be reached with the imperfect arms in use. But falconry became a fine art in Europe, and the skill acquired in cultivating it caused it to be kept in practice long after firearms became common. It was practiced as a matter of pastime and a method of showing off accomplishments; and there was an aesthetic pleasure in watching the lofty flight of the birds and the precision and swiftness with which they would light upon their prey. Those birds were valued highest which, when they missed their mark, would spread their wings before they reached the ground, and soar up again, trying to recover by the speed of their flight the advance which the game made in the interval, and then dash down again and again until they succeeded or the game got out of their reach. On the other hand, those birds which flew