The Art and Practice of Hawking

The author provides a practical manual of falconry, surveying its history and the species employed, then detailing equipment, capture, taming, training, and field techniques for various quarry such as rooks, game birds, larks, gulls, waterfowl, and mammals, with focused chapters on goshawks and sparrow-hawks. Chapters address furniture and mews, taming wild and hacked birds, hunting methods, recovery of lost hawks, accidents, maladies, moulting, and the temperamental virtues and vices of birds. Technical terms are explained and the guidance combines hands-on instruction, field tactics, and illustrative anecdotes to aid practical sport management and bird care.