CHAPTER IITHE GOSHAWKS

Three species.—[The author now describes three races of goshawk, which he distinguishes by the names ofTīqūn;T̤arlān; andQizil:[33]each of these three he sub-divides into varieties, only distinguishable from each other by slight differences in colouring, in marking, or in size. The first-named species is the whitegoshawk; the second is that variety or race of the common goshawk that is caught after migration into Persia; while the third is the local race that breeds in the country.

After hazarding a conjecture that the white goshawks[34]are not a true species like theT̤arlānandQizil, but are either albinos, or else accidental varieties produced by the pairing, for one or more generations, of two exceptionally light specimens of the common goshawk, the author proceeds to describe a pure white variety of theTīqūn, which, he says, is known to the people of Turkistan by the name ofKāfūrī.[35]He remarks that he has caught albino specimens of the Saker Falcon, and has further observed albinos of theShāhīn, “piebald crow,”[36]peacock, sparrow, sparrow-hawk, pin-tailed sand-grouse, chukor, hoopoe, English merlin,kākulīlark, and common crane. As regards theKāfūrī, he states his opinion that it is the offspring of albinoT̤arlānsthat happen to have paired for two generations. He continues:—]

White Goshawk orTīqūn-i kāfūrī.—The female of this variety ofTīqūnis noted for its large size, the male on the contrary for being extremely small. The head, neck, back, and breast are totally devoid of markings, the plumage being white as driven snow.[37]In the immature bird the eyes have only a slightly reddish tinge, but after the first moult their hue generally deepens and turns to a ruby-red.[38]The claws and beak, though frequently white, are more often a light grey, while the cere is greenish.

E’en such the noble thorough-bredTīqūn;May God in mercy grant us such a boon!

E’en such the noble thorough-bredTīqūn;

May God in mercy grant us such a boon!

IVFROM AN OLD PERSIAN PAINTING, INDIAN, PROBABLY OF THE MUG͟HAL PERIOD

I remember having once seen a “cast”[39]of this variety—male and female—in the possession ofFatḥ ʿAlī Shāh[40](now a resident of Paradise), both of which were exceptionally fine performers in the field.

The people of Turkistan, who are highly skilled in the art of training goshawks, call this varietylāziqī.[41]

It is commonly believed by falconers and bird-catchers, that in the early spring, when the female goshawk is desirous of the attentions of a male, she utters loud and plaintive cries, which attract to her many species of birds. From these she selects a male of a species different from herself,[42]and the result of this union is a diversiform progeny. However, thekāfūrīorlāziqīvariety is the offspring of two white parents.

The following circumstance lends some colouring of truth to this quaint belief:—

Some years ago a hawk of this species was brought from Russia and presented as a curiosity to the late Shāh, who, in turn, bestowed it onḤusayn ʿAlī Mīrzā,[43]Governor of the Province of Fārs. The Governor (now in the abode of the Blessed) forwarded it to me—the contemptible. It must have been a bird of four or five moults, when it came into the possession of this slave. After infinite pains I succeeded in taking with it one solitarychukor,[44]and that, too, a bird harried and worn out by another hawk. It had a very villainous and scurvy disposition. The plumage of this hawk, an unusually large female, was peculiar, in that its feathers were alternately snow-white and raven-black; the claws and beak were of the colour of mother-of-pearl, and the eyes werea reddish yellow. I feel confident her albino mother had mated with a raven, and that this spurious half-caste was the result of the union. Thereissome truth in the statements of the bird-catchers.

The above description is given, as it seems in some measure to support the stories of the bird-catchers. Sure and certain knowledge, however, rests with God.

VFROM A PAINTING IN AN ANCIENT PERSIAN MS. WRITTEN IN INDIA

Goshawk(T̤arlān).—There are three varieties ofT̤arlān, the dark, the light, and the tawny. The last two are common, but though tractable and easily reclaimed,[45]they are not good at large quarry. The dark variety that has a reddish tinge, is universally acknowledged to be the best, and I have myself taken with itcommon crane and great bustard.[46]The colouring should be very dark, with a tinge of red in it; though this variety may be sullen and self-willed, it is also hardy and keen, and, once thoroughly reclaimed, will be as docile and obedient as any falconer could desire.

Local Race of Goshawk(Qizil).—The third species, theQizil,[47]breeds in Māzenderān,[48]and in many other parts of Persia, and a fair number are captured in nets, each Autumn, together with theT̤arlāns. Like the last-described species, this also contains three varieties, the dark, the light, and the tawny. The dark variety with the cheek-stripe[49]is the best, and the darker this marking—with a tinge of red in it—the better the bird. With a “passage-bird”[50]of this last variety, the author has himself taken common cranes, great bustards, and “ravine-deer”[51]fawns. The difference between the wild caughtQiziland theT̤arlānis in reality very small. The latter has a somewhat finer presence, a more noble disposition, and is rather faster in flight; also from its habit of mounting higher and thus commanding a more extensive view, it is better able to mark down or “put in”[52]its quarry. It is for these reasons only that theT̤arlānhas a higher value than theQizil.[53]

VIPERSIAN CARPET DEPICTING THE COURT OF A SIKH MAHĀRĀJĀ

Eyess ofQizil.—The eyess[54]of theQizilis more courageous than the “passage hawk,”[55]for it has the courage of inexperience. Reared with fostering care from its nestling days, what recks it of the frowns of Fortune? Untaught by Time, what knows it of the spoiling Eagle’s might? Though the eyess may at first excel the passage-hawk in courage, it is inferior to it in powers of flight. With increased knowledge, comes decreased courage. In a word, the nestling bears the same relation to the passage-hawk that the town-bred man does to the desert tentman.

Passage and EyessQizilCOMPARED WITHT̤arlān.—Compared with the eyess, the passageQizilis the better, especially that variety which has the reddish-black cheek-stripe.[56]Although inferior in powers of flight to theT̤arlān, it is better at taking large quarry, and in this quality, as wellasin affection for its master, it improves moult by moult. TheT̤arlān, on the contrary, with increasing age becomes a regular old soldier: it wastes the day excusing itself and shirking its duty and saying: “Oh! an eagle put me off that time;” or “Why! I didn’t see the partridge;” or else, “How clumsily you cast me! You hurt my back.” When the sun is near sinking, the cunning truant will suddenly rouse itself, and by a grand effort kill in the finest style. Well it knows that at that late hour, a full crop and no more work must needs be the reward of its single exertion. With hopes excited, its gulled master will rise early next day,and start off to make a big bag. Alas for the fair promise of last night!

Like yestere’en, to-day she fails to kill,The truant bird, blaming her master’s skill.

Like yestere’en, to-day she fails to kill,

The truant bird, blaming her master’s skill.

TheT̤arlān, however, brings luck to its owner. Besides it has a nature sweet, and docile, and loyal, and true. Hence of theT̤arlānit has been said:—

One day a Knight in splendour brightHis Hawk at quarry flew.The Royal Bird, soon lost to sight,Soared high into the blue,When lo! mid-air she meets a mate,Who says in tones imploring,“Return no more to leash or cageBut stay in freedom soaring.”The Hawk replied:—“True friends are rare;I cannot break my oath;To stop with thee I do not dare;To lose man’s love, I’m loth.”

One day a Knight in splendour bright

His Hawk at quarry flew.

The Royal Bird, soon lost to sight,

Soared high into the blue,

When lo! mid-air she meets a mate,

Who says in tones imploring,

“Return no more to leash or cage

But stay in freedom soaring.”

The Hawk replied:—“True friends are rare;

I cannot break my oath;

To stop with thee I do not dare;

To lose man’s love, I’m loth.”

FOOTNOTES:[30]Kulāhis the felt hat worn by Muslims.[31]Jalqū; “Halsband,lit.neck-band; a contrivance of soft twisted silk, placed like a collar round the hawk’s neck and the end held in the hand; ...”—Harting.The object of the halsband is to steady the hawk and enable it to start collectedly when the falconer casts it at the quarry. In the East it is considered an indispensable portion of the equipment of every Sparrow-Hawk. It is also very frequently attached to the Goshawk, but is not, however, used with theShikra.Zang“bell.”[32]This anecdote is from theShāh-Nāma.[33]TheT̤arlānand theQizilare the same species; the latter is the local race that breeds in Persia.[34]In Blandford’sZoology of Eastern Persiathe author states his opinion that the white goshawk is merely a variety of the common goshawk.[35]Kāfūrī; adj. fromkāfūr, “camphor,” an emblem of whiteness.[36]Kulāg͟h-i pīsa“the pied crow”;qil-i quiruqT. “the pin-tailed sand-grouse”;hudhud“hoopoe”;kākulī,videpage 24, note 104, “a species of crested lark”;durnā“common crane.”[37]Jerdon mentions a pure white goshawk as being found in New Holland, and states that Pallas notices a white goshawk from the extreme north-east part of Asia. Some Afghan falconers call albinos of any speciestaig͟hūn(tīqūn).[38]In the adultshikra(wild caught), the iris is sometimes a deep red and sometimes a bright yellow. In “eyess”shikras, even after the moult, the iris is frequently almost colourless, the result perhaps of confinement in dark native houses.[39]“Cast of hawks,i.e., two; not necessarily a pair.”—Harting.[40]A contemporary of Napoleon.[41]LāziqīT., is said to be the name of a white flower: this is said to be the same as thegul-i rāziqīP., a kind of jasmine (thebel phulof the Hindus).[42]A similar belief is current in parts of England with regard to the cuckoo, which, by some country people, is supposed to mate with the wryneck or “cuckoo’s mate.”[43]ThisḤusayn ʿAlī Mīrzāwas apparently the father of the author.[44]Thechukor(Caccabis chukor) of India andkabkof Persia, with its “joyous laughter,” enters largely into Oriental fable. On account of its cheery cry, it is a favourite cage-bird with both Hindus and Muslims. The male is also trained to fight. It is not an uncommon sight to see a man strolling along the road with achukor, or a grey partridge, trotting behind him like a little fox terrier.[45]“‘Reclaim,’v.Fr.réclamer, to make a hawk tame, gentle, and familiar.”—Harting.[46]Mīsh-murg͟h,lit.“sheep-bird” (Otis tarda). In Albin’sNatural History of Birds, it is stated that the goshawk used to be flown at geese and cranes as well as at partridges and pheasants. In Hume’sRough Notes, there is an account by Mr. R. Thompson of hawking with the goshawk in the forests of Gurhwal and the Terai, the quarry killed being jungle fowl,kālijpheasants, hares, peacocks, ducks and teal. The peacock knows well how to use its formidable feet and legs as weapons of defence, and is a more dangerous quarry than even the common crane.[47]QizilT., means “red.”[48]Māzenderān, a hilly province on the south coast of the Caspian.[49]MadāmiʿPl. Ar. The author explains this to mean “having black under the eyes and under the chin.”Videalsonote 200, page 50.[50]“‘Passage-Hawk,’ a wild hawk caught upon the passage or migration.”—Harting.[51]Āhū; the Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutterosa). Unlike its congener, the Indian gazelle (the well-knownchikāraor “ravine-deer” of the Panjab), the female of this species is hornless. A full-grown Indian gazelle weighs about thirty-six pounds, and stands a little over two feet high at the shoulder. “It [the goshawk] takes not only partridges and pheasants but also greater fowls as geese and cranes.”—Albin’sNat. Hist. of Birds.[52]“‘Put in,’ to drive the quarry into covert.”—Harting.[53]A Persian falconer informed me that theQizilis smaller, slower, and inferior in courage to the other races, and that it can readily bedistinguished while in the immature plumage, but not after the firstmoult. I was shown a moultedqiziland a moultedbāzside by side; except that the former was slightly smaller, there was no outward difference between the two.[54]“‘Eyess;’ a nestling or young hawk taken from the ‘eyrie’ or nest; from the Fr.Niais....”—Harting.[55]Videpage 8, note50. Chapter V of Bert’s treatise is headed: “Of theEyasHawke, [Goshawk]upon whom I can fasten no affection, for the multitude of her follies and faults.” The following quaint derivation is from theBoke of St. Albans:—“An hawke is called an Eyes of hir Eyghen, for an hauke that is broght up under a Bussard or a Puttocke: as mony be: hath Wateri Eghen. For Whan thay be disclosed and kepit in ferme tyll thay be full summyd. ye shall knawe theym by theyr Wateri Eyghen. And also hir looke Will not be so quycke as a Brawncheris is. and so be cause the best knawlege is by the Eygh, they be calde Eyeses.” “Now to speke of hawkys. first thay ben Egges. and afterwarde they bene disclosed hawkys....”[56]Siyāh-yashmāg͟hlīT.;yashmāg͟hlīT., is a black handkerchief worn by women round the head. Perhaps in the text it means “black-headed.”

[30]Kulāhis the felt hat worn by Muslims.

[31]Jalqū; “Halsband,lit.neck-band; a contrivance of soft twisted silk, placed like a collar round the hawk’s neck and the end held in the hand; ...”—Harting.The object of the halsband is to steady the hawk and enable it to start collectedly when the falconer casts it at the quarry. In the East it is considered an indispensable portion of the equipment of every Sparrow-Hawk. It is also very frequently attached to the Goshawk, but is not, however, used with theShikra.Zang“bell.”

[32]This anecdote is from theShāh-Nāma.

[33]TheT̤arlānand theQizilare the same species; the latter is the local race that breeds in Persia.

[34]In Blandford’sZoology of Eastern Persiathe author states his opinion that the white goshawk is merely a variety of the common goshawk.

[35]Kāfūrī; adj. fromkāfūr, “camphor,” an emblem of whiteness.

[36]Kulāg͟h-i pīsa“the pied crow”;qil-i quiruqT. “the pin-tailed sand-grouse”;hudhud“hoopoe”;kākulī,videpage 24, note 104, “a species of crested lark”;durnā“common crane.”

[37]Jerdon mentions a pure white goshawk as being found in New Holland, and states that Pallas notices a white goshawk from the extreme north-east part of Asia. Some Afghan falconers call albinos of any speciestaig͟hūn(tīqūn).

[38]In the adultshikra(wild caught), the iris is sometimes a deep red and sometimes a bright yellow. In “eyess”shikras, even after the moult, the iris is frequently almost colourless, the result perhaps of confinement in dark native houses.

[39]“Cast of hawks,i.e., two; not necessarily a pair.”—Harting.

[40]A contemporary of Napoleon.

[41]LāziqīT., is said to be the name of a white flower: this is said to be the same as thegul-i rāziqīP., a kind of jasmine (thebel phulof the Hindus).

[42]A similar belief is current in parts of England with regard to the cuckoo, which, by some country people, is supposed to mate with the wryneck or “cuckoo’s mate.”

[43]ThisḤusayn ʿAlī Mīrzāwas apparently the father of the author.

[44]Thechukor(Caccabis chukor) of India andkabkof Persia, with its “joyous laughter,” enters largely into Oriental fable. On account of its cheery cry, it is a favourite cage-bird with both Hindus and Muslims. The male is also trained to fight. It is not an uncommon sight to see a man strolling along the road with achukor, or a grey partridge, trotting behind him like a little fox terrier.

[45]“‘Reclaim,’v.Fr.réclamer, to make a hawk tame, gentle, and familiar.”—Harting.

[46]Mīsh-murg͟h,lit.“sheep-bird” (Otis tarda). In Albin’sNatural History of Birds, it is stated that the goshawk used to be flown at geese and cranes as well as at partridges and pheasants. In Hume’sRough Notes, there is an account by Mr. R. Thompson of hawking with the goshawk in the forests of Gurhwal and the Terai, the quarry killed being jungle fowl,kālijpheasants, hares, peacocks, ducks and teal. The peacock knows well how to use its formidable feet and legs as weapons of defence, and is a more dangerous quarry than even the common crane.

[47]QizilT., means “red.”

[48]Māzenderān, a hilly province on the south coast of the Caspian.

[49]MadāmiʿPl. Ar. The author explains this to mean “having black under the eyes and under the chin.”Videalsonote 200, page 50.

[50]“‘Passage-Hawk,’ a wild hawk caught upon the passage or migration.”—Harting.

[51]Āhū; the Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutterosa). Unlike its congener, the Indian gazelle (the well-knownchikāraor “ravine-deer” of the Panjab), the female of this species is hornless. A full-grown Indian gazelle weighs about thirty-six pounds, and stands a little over two feet high at the shoulder. “It [the goshawk] takes not only partridges and pheasants but also greater fowls as geese and cranes.”—Albin’sNat. Hist. of Birds.

[52]“‘Put in,’ to drive the quarry into covert.”—Harting.

[53]A Persian falconer informed me that theQizilis smaller, slower, and inferior in courage to the other races, and that it can readily bedistinguished while in the immature plumage, but not after the firstmoult. I was shown a moultedqiziland a moultedbāzside by side; except that the former was slightly smaller, there was no outward difference between the two.

[54]“‘Eyess;’ a nestling or young hawk taken from the ‘eyrie’ or nest; from the Fr.Niais....”—Harting.

[55]Videpage 8, note50. Chapter V of Bert’s treatise is headed: “Of theEyasHawke, [Goshawk]upon whom I can fasten no affection, for the multitude of her follies and faults.” The following quaint derivation is from theBoke of St. Albans:—“An hawke is called an Eyes of hir Eyghen, for an hauke that is broght up under a Bussard or a Puttocke: as mony be: hath Wateri Eghen. For Whan thay be disclosed and kepit in ferme tyll thay be full summyd. ye shall knawe theym by theyr Wateri Eyghen. And also hir looke Will not be so quycke as a Brawncheris is. and so be cause the best knawlege is by the Eygh, they be calde Eyeses.” “Now to speke of hawkys. first thay ben Egges. and afterwarde they bene disclosed hawkys....”

[56]Siyāh-yashmāg͟hlīT.;yashmāg͟hlīT., is a black handkerchief worn by women round the head. Perhaps in the text it means “black-headed.”

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