vpon hir legges vnlesse it be a fewe that beginne behinde the three stretchers and pouncies which are verie large in respect of hir short legges Hir brayle feathers are engouted twixte red and blacke The pendant feathers which are those behinde the thigh are of a rustie and smokie vernish complexion When a man seeth hir sore aloft in the ayre he wil iudge hir vnder the wings that hir plumage and downe as well of hir winges as betwixt hir legges is russet and reddishe mayled There are two foules wherof the one is called Ian le blancke which I take to be the Harrohen or capped Kyte and the other Blanch queue the ring tayle who doe alwayes flee with hir for company beating and sousing the Larkes and if happily they spye the Hobbye encountering the Larke whome they put and force so hir winges it is a pleasure to behold the game that is betwixt this cast of bussardes and the hawke For their desire and intent is to bereaue the sillye Hobbye hir praye but shee being nimble and wight of wing encountreth with them entercepting the Larke from them manger their might and sundrie times they buckle so together as you shall see them come tūbling down both yfeare one fast griping seazed on the other Some would haue that this Hobby of whom I write should be that byrde whome Aristotle calleth Hipotriorchis and the Latines Subuteo but I am not of that mynde but that it should rather be the Sacret whome Aristotle doth meane But let the learned reader iudge the controuersie I am to lay downe their natures and properties and not to decyde any matter of controuersie which in deede doth belong to the curious Falconer and not to him that doth imbrace more the sporte than the diuersitie and oddes of speache which in euerie arte a man shall be assured to fynde Let it suffice if I gyue the Reader to vnderstande the nature of euerie hawke nowe adayes in vse and withall according to my promise and meaning doe let him knowe the meane to flye with them bothe the fyelde and brooke as also to doe hym to witte howe to Mewe Ympe and cure them beyng diseased These are the speciall poynts and such as deserue thankes from me and commendation from him I will proceede in the description of the nature of this hawke according to the opinion of the Italian The Italians opinion of the Hobbye THe Hobbies are more large than the Merlyns and for beake eyes plume and foote they verie much resemble the Falcon. They will lye vpon their wings reasonably wel folowing mē and spanels fleing vpon them many turnes to the end that whē any Partridge or Quayle is sprong they may the better stoupe from their wings and so seaze on the foule which sundry times they doe These kinde of hawkes are vsed of such as go with nettes and spanels The order of which game is this The dogges they range the field to spryng the fowle and the Hobbies they accustome to flee alofte ouer thē soring in the ayre whom the sellie byrdes espying at that aduantage and fearyng this conspiracie as it were betwixt the dogges and Hawkes for their vndoing and cōfusion dare in no wise cōmitte themselues to their wings but do lie as close and flat on the ground as they possible may do and so are taken in the nettes some Gentlemen haue made reporte and for truth assured me that the Emperoure Ferdinando of famous memory did giue his Falconers in charge to keepe reclayme sundrie Hobbies And his Maiestie diuers times for recreation would take his horse and into the fieldes with a Hobbie on his fiste holding in his right hād a long slēder pole or reede seuen foote in length on the toppe whereof there was conueyed by sleight a strong line with a sliding knotte And when happely his Maiestie had espied a larcke on the ground he would forthwith hold vp and aduaunce his Hobbie to the vewe of the sellie byrde whom as soone as the larcke sawe she would in nowise dare to spryng but lie as still as a stone flat vpon the earth so fearefull they are of the Hobbie in chief of al other Hawkes then would the Emperour at his good leasure and greate pleasure with his long pole and the sliding line take the sellie fowle and drawe hyr vp vnto him and truely tooke no small delight in this kinde of pastime and would cause his Falconers to do likewise who by this deuise tooke many byrdes and in this sorte woulde they Hawke frō the beginning of September to the end of October This practise did somewhat resemble and drawe to the nature of our deuise in daring of larckes whiche wee vse at these dayes but in my iudgement nothing so ready and fitte as our pastime and ginne which we haue whiche is a very good sporte and full of delight to see the fearefull nature of the sillie Larcke with the great awe and subiection that the Hobbie hath hyr in by the lawe of kinde for assuredly there is no other Hawke no not the hugest whom the larcke doth so much feare as the Hobbie which may manifestly appeare by this that I haue written as also by dayly experience and practise in that behalfe Of the Goshawke after the opinion of VVilliam Tardiff a Frenchman A generall deuision of Goshawkes whom the French men call Autour THere are sayth he fiue kindes of Autours or Goshawkes speaking of the Goshawke in the largest name and nature comprysed in that woorde Autour The first and moste noble kinde is the female Goshawke whiche is with vs most ordinarily in vse The second is named a demy Autour or Goshawke as it were a kind betwixt twoo other sortes and that is a spare slender hawke and of little regard in respect of any good she will do The third is the Tyercle whiche is the male or cocke to the Goshawke who doth slay the Partridge and is not of sufficient force to kill the Crane He is termed a Tyerclet for that there are most commonly disclosed three byrdes in one selfe eyree two Hawkes and one Tiercell The fourth kind of Autour is the Sparowhawke whose nature is to kill all kinde of praye that the Goshawke dothe saue onely the larger sorte of fowles The fifth kind is called Sabech whom the Egiptians terme Baydach which doth very much resemble the Sparowhawke but is lesse than the Sparowhawke and hath a very blewe eye There are sundrie sortes of Goshawkes and those brought and conueyed out of sundrie forayne partes and regions but among thē all that Goshawke that is bred eyreed in Armenia and Persia is the principall best hawke and then next to hyr in goodnesse the hawke of Greece and lastly that of Afrike The hawke of Armenia hath hyr eyes greene but the best of that kinde is she that hath blacke eyes blacke plumes on hir backe The hawke of Persia is large wel plumed cleare and deepe eyed with hangyng and pendant eyleddes
mine owne iudgement set downe as muche as is necessarie to make a Goshawke perfect in killing of a Partridge or any other fielde flight I will also declare howe you maye flee to the Ryuer with a Goshawke and howe you may kill greate fowles wyth hir A Goshawke but no Tercell may flee to the Ryuer at Mallacde Ducke Goose Hearon and suche lyke whether it bee bycause she proueth not to the fielde or for any other delight that shee or hir keeper hath to the Ryuer And you shal holde this order in making hir the which doubtlesse shall bring hir to perfection For Goshawkes do more willingly flee suche flightes than at any other And yet is there great difference seene in the proofe of them for some of them proue muche hardyer and better than some other doe Well the Falconer shall fyrst make his Goshawke to the fist in suche sorte as I haue prescribed when I taughte to flee them vnto the fielde Then muste hee carrie hir into the fielde wythoute Belles with a liue Ducke gyuen vnto one of his Companions And the Falconer muste haue with him a little Drumme or Taberde fastened to the Pommell of his Saddle togither with the sinewe of an Oxe legge dryed whiche shall serue him to strike vppon his Drumselet or Taberde and causing his Companion to hide himselfe in a ditche or pitte with the Ducke tyed to a Cryaunce his Hawke beyng vnhooded vppon his fyst hee shall drawe towardes his companion whiche standeth so hidde in couert And when hee is neare him within two or three paces or little more hee shall strike vppon his Tabarde twice or thrice and his Companion hearing him shall throwe out the Ducke aloft And let the Falconer cast off his Goshawke to it and if shee take it at the Sowrce let him rewarde hir and feede hir with a reasonable gorge making hir all the cheare that may be then let him take hir vpon his fyst and hoode hir suffering hir to plume or to tyre vppon a wing or a legge of the Ducke The next day he shall not flee with hir as before I haue admonished But the thirde day hee may go againe in lyke maner with hys Companion or else maye seeke some water pashet or pitte where wyldefowle lye as Teales or suche lyke Prouided alwayes that hee seeke the aduauntage of his flighte where the Banckes bee high For the higher that the bankes be the better he may come to make his flight and in suche a place he and his Companion one on the one syde that other on the other maye ryde fayre and softly vntill they finde fowle and yet put them not vppe When they haue founde them bothe of them shall drawe backe along by the Bancke and the Hawke beeing vnhooded they shall trotte bothe of them ryght vppon the fowle with theyr Horses When they bee neare them hee whiche hathe the Tabarde shall beate it so that the Fowle maye ryse and then hee maye lette flee hys Hawke and if shee take anye of them at Sowrce let him make in to hir a pace and crosse the Fowles winges so that shee maye foote it and plume it at hir pleasure rewarding hir as before c And the better to encourage hir when hee hathe hooded hir let him sette hir vppon the Fowle and let hir plume it hir fyll and after let him take hir on his fist and giue hir a wing or a legge of the Fowle to tyre on And the next day let him not flee c And when hys Hawke is throughly nousled and in bloude then hee maye flee twice in a day or oftner with hir rewarding hir as before is expressed Vsing his Hawke thus hee shall so well encourage hir that hee maye flee the oftener wyth hir at hys pleasure Of fleeing the Wildegoose and Crane with a Goshauke SOme delight to flee Wildegeese and Cranes with a Goshawke and such other great flightes And the traine must bee made in this wise When the hawke is made to the fist as before sayde let him go on foote abroade into the fielde with his Goshawke on his fist carying with him a Wildegoose or a tame Goose of the colour of a Wildegoose tyed by the tayle with a Cryaunce And hauing sette hir on the grounde eyght or tenne Paces from him lette hym vnhoode the Hawke and twitche the Goose wyth the Cryaunce vntyll hee make it stirre and flicker with the wings Then if his Goshawke bate at it caste hir off and runne in to succour hir so that the Goose beate hir not with hir wings for discouraging hir And if hee haue store of traynes then he shall rewarde and feede hir on the braynes hearte and thyghe of that whiche hee trayned withall But if hee haue no store then it shall bee needefull to saue that for another trayne This done lette him closely conuey a Pygeon vnder the wing of the trayne and rewarde his hawke therewith as hathe beene heeretofore declared in the traynes to the Hearon And the nexte daye lette hir not flee but sette hir downe c. The thirde day he may giue hir another trayne somewhat further off And the thirde trayne he shall gyue it hir on horsebacke fiftie or three score paces off at the leaste or so farre off as hee maye come in to succoure his hawke in tyme His hawke beeing thus trayned and entred he may ride out with his hawke without belles bicause the Geese shall not ryse before the Falconer haue broughte his hawke to the vauntage then with his Tabard to beate it vp so forth whereof I haue tolde before And hauing founde any wilde geese he shall shewe them to his hawke who being naturally mooued will make from the fiste to them and will flee lowe by the grounde vntill she come neare them Then the Falconer shall ryde after apace and strike vpon his Tabarde vntill hee rayse the Wildegeese And if his hawke seaze any of them at Source hee shall quickely succoure hir and rewarde hir c. But for as muche as Wildegeese will rise as soone as they see any bodie Therefore the Falconer muste teache his hawke to take the aduauntage whiche is thus done As soone as hee hath founde them a farre off lette him alyghte from his horse and carrye his hawke vnhooded behinde his horse stawking towardes them vntill he haue gotten reasonably neare them holding downe his hawke couerte vnder the horse necke or bodie in suche sorte that shee maye finde the Geese Then the Falconer shall runne in apace and strike vppon his Tabarde to rayse the Geese And if she kill any of them rewarde hir c. Vsing his hawke in this order shee may be made to kill twoo or three or more in a daye And in like manner maye shee bee made to the Crane And in like sorte may he creepe to flee at fowle which lye vpon pyttes or pondes First shewing them to his hawke and letting hir drawe to them and then running in to putte
water or Nightshade water and sometimes among with the iuice of Henbane Lettice water Nenuphar Howsleeke suche other cooling deuises to delaye hir inordinate heate inflamation setting hir in some out place where the ayre is fresh but not where she may take the ayre to much for that may breede a further incoÌ„uenience If your sicke hawke be very lowe brought in state you muste allowe hir a gorge twice a day but with discretion iudgement not giuing hir ouermuche at one tyme And if so the Feuer cease not by these practises aforesayde it shal be well done to giue your Falcon of excellent good Reubarbe finely beaten to pouder twoo scrouples in a Cotton casting to purge skowre hir choler whiche is the very originall grounde of hir feuer There are some that do will and prescribe that you must let your FalcoÌ„ bloude in the thygh whiche albeit I haue not experimented yet doth it staÌ„de with reason that it may do good if you can finely do it but it were much better in mine opinioÌ„ to open the vayne vnder hir right wing bicause that would chiefely refrigerate coole the lyuer out of haÌ„d so by a coÌ„sequeÌ„t the whole body throughout This order aforesaide is to be vsed if the feuer be a hotte feuer wherewith your hawke is molested But if it happen to bee a colde feuer which you shall perceyue by that your hawke will be extreme colde if you touche hir Hir eyes looke not of their woonted hewe and besides all this shee seldome mewteth and that with greate payne Then you must set hir in some warm place after hir fitte of colde is past she must be gently borne on the fist Besides wheÌ„ the feuer hath left hir for that time you should let hir flee a little it wil do hir great good Looke that hir meate wherwith you feede hir be hot fleshe as Sparrowes which in this colde feuer are very wel to be allowed though in the hot agew I told you they were hurtful pullets Pigeons such like hot fowles the flesh of whome you must washe in wine wherein haue bin boyled these hot things folowing as Sage Minâ—s Pelamountaine Cloues CynamoÌ„ such other sweete coÌ„fortable deuises Besides you may gyue your hawke the foresayde flesh if it please you with honie and a little pouder of Dill Fenel Comin medled togither But specially you muste obserue this rule remember it well not to giue your hawke gorge vpoÌ„ gorge againe if your hawke be hye in flesh when this disease taketh hir she must be fed but little seldome although in deede it be very good at all times howsoeuer she be affected to kepe a reasonable hande vppon hir as touching hir dyet whither she be diseased or in perfect state For of ouer greate gorges and too full and liberall a hand do procede a thousand mischiefes and diseases to a hawke as experience doth dayly instruct vs both to the greate paynes of those sillie birdes and the greate griefe and coste of the vnskilfull keeper whose purpose and meaning perhaps is by giuing his hawke liberally to haue hir flee lustily and to continue in perfect healthe and state whereas in trothe nothing doth so muche offende a hawke as too greate a gorge As in all other things so in this likewise The meane is beste Some Falconers do prescribe this methode for cure of the feuer in a hawke whiche I doe not greatly commende or allowe They will you to take Reubarbe Muske Suger candie and the iuyce of Motherwoorte and making a pylle of those things aforesayde to gyue it your hawke feeding hir afterwardes with Sparowes or yong Rattes whiche are very hotte meate Other some appoynte a paste or myxture to be made as bygge as a nutte of these things following whiche being stieped a space in Vyneger muste be gyuen hir not dealing with hir in sixe houres after at the leaste They take to the composition of this paste Aloes Muske and the fatte of a Henne egall portions giuing it the hawke in manner aforesayde The signes that they gyue to knowe the Feuer are the wrything of the hawkes trayne the coldenesse of hir foote and oftentymes the casting of hir gorge But the firste rules and remedies do satisfie mee sufficiently without these bycause I finde in them some more reason yet doe not thinke it amisse to sette downe diuers mens opinions bycause euery man maye make his choyce for what liketh one perhappes contentes not another Of diseases of the heade and first of the Apoplexye or falling euill HAuing in purpose to treate of the diseases wherewith hawkes those fillie birds are vexed in their heades I must do you to knowe that vnder the name and terme of the heade I do not only comprise that part that contayneth the brayne but also the eares eyes beake or clappe nares and mouth of the hawke all which partes are subiect to sundry diseases and euils But firste of all I meane to speake of the chiefest and most principall part of all the rest of such maladies as light vpon the brayne and after that of suche as happen to the externall and outward parts of the hawkes head Among all which infirmities griefes I account the Apoplexie whome the Italians call Gozza the greatest and most perillous as the which doth ordinarily cause and bring sodayne death This mischiefe doth commonly befall hawkes by meane of too muche grease and store of bloude for that at that tyme there doth happely breake some one vayne or other in the braine which doth fill some coÌ„cauitie or hollow Cell of the brayne with bloude in which Celles as the learned do imagine affirme the Animall spirites are ingeÌ„dred and haue their beginning Without which Animall spirites no lyuing creature can eyther haue sense or moouing Wherevpon it doth follow of very necessitie and by a meere consequent that the passage of those spirites beeing shutte vp and intercluded the creature whatsoeuer it be muste dye Agayne it may happen for that the hawke hath bene sette too long in the heate of the Sunne for by that occasion there may bee so muche humiditie and moyste humour drawen vp into the brayne as may ingender this euill and procure this mischiefe in the hawke Moreouer it may chaunce by making a loÌ„g flight at a Fesant or Partridge in the heate of the daye by meane of which the hawke hath surcharged hir selfe with ouermuche trauaile Wherefore it shall be behoouefull and necessarie so to vse the matter with care and diligence as it may be foreseene that hawkes incurre not this aduenture and euill Wherevppon for that hawkes in the mewe are accustomed to gather muche grease it shall be good for the space of fifteene or twenty daies before the drawing of them out of the mewe to feede them with lyquide and slypper fleshe such as may lyghtly be put ouer and passe through them As namely with the heartes of Calues Lambes or Goates washed in
bayle of wood that they maye by that meanes the better keepe their feathers vnbroken and eschue the dragging of theire traines vppon the ground for so shall they bee the better sunned Michelin sayth further that to keepe Eyesse Hawkes from that inconuenience specially when they bee taken ouer little they must be kept in a drie and cleane place yee must strewe euery where vnder them the herbe that in Frenche is called Yeble which hath a seede like Elder This herbe is of nature whot and good against the goute and the disease of the reines which might befall them Wherefore if ye will keepe Hawkes well that are new taken from out of the nest if ye take them in the morning yee must let them stand emptie till noone and if ye take them in the euening yee muste not feede them till the next morrowe And when yee feede them giue them tender flesh and after that lette them not stand emptie any more too long for hindering their feathers and tainting them Of Hawkes that haue lice mites or other vermine IF ye will knowe whether your Hawkes haue lice or mites set hir in the warme Sunne out of the winde and by and by ye shall easyly perceyue it for they will crall out vpon hir feathers and swarme there For remedie hereof take a quantitie of Orpinent beaten into very fine powder and hauing mingled it with halfe asmuch powder of Pepper lette youre Hawke be cast handsomly that shee breake not hir feathers then powder first the one wing and so the other gently and finally all the whole carkasse of hir after which set hir vppon your fiste againe bespoute hir and squirt a little water on hir with your mouth and set hir by a fire or in the Sunne till she be throughly wetherd Afterward when ye intend to feede hir wash hir beake to take away the sauor of the Orpiment and beware that your Hawke be not poore when you intende to vse Orpiment Hauing thus done you shall see that all the mites and lice will discouer them selues vpon hir feathers and die eyther the Orpimēt alone or the Pepper alone are as good as both of them togither to spoyle the mites But here is the oddes the Pepper maketh the mites to shewe themselues and then the Orpiment murdreth them When yee vse the Pepper alone put thereto a thirde part lesse of Asshes to abate the force of the Pepper and so shall your Hawke be ridde of those vermine And assure your self that no hawke which hath the mites be she neuer so good is able to do hir duetie play hir parte by reason of the anoyāce which she feeleth in hir feathers by thē And if ye would rid hir of the mites without washing hir thē my Author bids you take a very old Mauis or Blacke bird hauing takē out al the greace that ye can find in hir anoynt your Hawkes feete and the pearch whereon ye set hir therewith for all the Vermine will repaire downe to it and therfore shift hir out of hir place twice or thrice in the nighte that she may be no more troubled therewith Of the Hawke that holdeth not hir wings vp so well as she should do but lolleth them IF a Hawke that is newly taken be set straightwayes vpon a pearch or vppon the fiste of one that hath no skill to vse hir she ouerheates hir selfe with bating and afterward catcheth suche colde vpon it as shee cannot recouer or trusse hir wings close to hir againe nor be able to flee well Mallopin sayth that to remedie this mischiefe you must take of the best vineger that is to be gotten with your mouth spirt it vpon and betwixte hir feathers till she be throughly wet taking good heede that none of it come in hir nares and afterward set hir by the fire or in the Sunne seruing hir so two or three dayes togither And if she recouer doe nothing else to hir but if shee recouer not let hir bathe eyther of pleasure or of force and shee wyll trusse vp hir wings to hir by meane of striuing with hir selfe Then let hir be set very warme by a fire or in the Sunne for if she should chill vppon it shee woulde become worse than before Of the Crampgout MArtin sayth yee shall discerne the Crampgout by your Hawkes holding of hir one foote vpon the other and by hir often knibbing and sobbing of hir foote with hir beake For remedie whereof ye must cast hir handsomly and let hir bloud on the veyne that is betweene the foote and the legge and afterward anoynt the veyne with Capons greace or with Oyle of Roses To keepe a Hawke from all manner of Goutes the Frenche mans opinion is this BY Martins aduise if yee doubte that your hawke shall haue the Goute you must feare hir and cauterize hir as hereafter followeth Take a small yron with a rounde button at the ende as bygge as a Peaze heate it redde hotte and feare hir therewith first aboue the eyes then vpon the toppe of hir head and thirdly vpon the balles of hir feete And this violent kind of dealing with hir is the next and assuredst waye to do good in suche desperate diseases if any helpe be to bee had But my Italian Author Sforzino giueth ouer a hawke that is troubled with the Goute and thinketh there is small credit to bee gotten by the cure bicause of the impossibilitie For the byting of avenemous beaste or woorme IF your Hawke be bitten or stung of a venemous beaste or woorme make hir to receyue a little Tryacle and powder of Pepper and afterward feede hir with hotte meate two dayes and beware that she touche no water for twentie daies after Or else burne a Frogge and beate hir into powder and put thereof vpon Cattes fleshe and gyue it your Hawke These are straunge remedies and rare and of the Frenche deuise Giue your iudgement of them and by tryall you shall knowe what they will do I finde them in my Authour and therefore do sette them downe and not for any experience I haue had of them For the wound or byting of any beaste IF your hawke be hurt by any mischaunce and the mouth of the wounde very small ryppe it larger and skowre it with white wyne laying theron a playster of white Frankincense and Masticke and annoynte it rounde aboute with butter Oyle of Roses or Oyle Olyue A treatise and briefe discourse of the Cure of Spanels vvhen they be any vvaye ouerheatte deuised and written by Master Francesco Sforzino Vicentino the Italian Gentleman Falconer HOwe necessary a thing a Spanell is to Falconrie and for those that vse that pastime keping Hawkes for their pleasure recreatiō I deeme no man doubteth as well to spring and retriue a fowle being flowen to the marke as also diuers other wayes to assiste and ayde Falcons and Goshawkes Wherefore seeing that hythertoo in my collection I haue spoken altogyther of Hawkes bothe for the Ryuer