CHAPTER LION CANKER OF THE FEATHERS[704]
Thisdisease, which is calledqārishqa,[704]is commoner in Persia than elsewhere. From what I have observed, it arises from taking a moulting hawk out of the mew too soon, that is, while some of her feathers are still in blood. The hawk bates, injuring a young quill, and the blood dries up and putrifies; then the flesh near the root of the quill gets infected, and soon a tiny kind of maggot, similar to the “disease of parasites”[705]that sometimes infests man, is produced, and it eats away the root. The following case, I think, corroborates my opinion:—
I once had a very fine eyess-goshawk, brought to me from an eyrie in Mazenderan, just about a month before Autumn. I noticed that one of the two centre tail-feathers, called theqāpāqfeathers, was broken close to the flesh, too close to admit of “imping.” I thought that as it was a young bird I might pull out the feather without fear, and that it would speedily grow again.[706]Accordingly with the utmost care I neatly removed the stump[707]with pincers. On examining it, I found some hundreds of minute insects the size of a poppy seed, wriggling about inside the quill. I examined them under a magnifying glass; they looked just like lice,[708]but were broader. It struck me that these were the cause of canker in quill feathers. I closed the end of the quill and circulated it for inspection amongst all my sporting friends and acquaintances. These parasites, after attacking and eating one quill, work their way under the flesh to the next, and so on. They have the same passion for feathers that white-ants[709]have for wood. If you examine carefully, with a glass, a feather that has broken off from a hawk afflicted with this disease, you will find that it has a dead appearance; it has not the water of life in it: themarks of erosion will also be apparent. These insects are the cause of feather-rot, and naught else—but God knows best.
Treatment: first give her three doses of manna on alternate days, but give her no more manna than the quantity mentioned previously. Then cast her, and pull out the small feathers from round the diseased spot. If the flesh is black and swollen, it is a sign that the injury arises from a blow.Treatment: apply a leech to the injured spot and let it suck out the impure blood. Sprinkle salt on the wound, or apply ice to staunch the bleeding.Item: rub the injured spot with powdered stone or brick till the blood is near flowing; then apply the fouling of a tobacco-pipe. After this keep her loose in a room. Do this twice.
If, however, the spot be red, the disease is the second or parasitic kind. The treatment in both cases is the same, with a difference.Treatment: prick the red spot with a needle and induce a flow of blood. Mix vinegar and ox-gall, and paint it on the affected spot.Item: take carbonate of soda,[710]blue-stone, sal-ammoniac, “yellow aloes,”[711]and long pepper,[712]a grain[713]of each, and three black raisins: pound and mix. Prick the injured spot with a needle, and wash with strong vinegar. Then apply the powder and she will recover. This is the practice of the ancient falconers.Item: when the feather falls out, wait till a new one takes its place;[714]then before the stage has arrived when it will fall out, pluck it out by force and do this three times. The fourth time let the feather reach maturity. This, too, is a receipt of the ancient falconers.
FOOTNOTES:[704]Par-k͟huraorpar-k͟huragī, P.;qārishqaappears to be the Turkish name of the disease.[705]Daʿu´l-qaml,lit.“disease of lice.” By this term the author probably refers to some parasite other than the louse,i.e., other than the common louse.[706]Flight-feathers that are pulled out never grow again; tail-featherssometimesdo;videpage 177, note752.[707]Būqa.[708]Qaml, Ar.[709]Rashmīz, either white-ant or weevil.[710]Būra-yi Armanī, crude carbonate of soda.[711]i.e., Socotrinæ aloes, which are yellow.[712]Dār filfil, “Piper Longum.”[713]Dānak-i, a pea-grain in weight.[714]The author seems to have confused “false moult” with “feather-canker,” but the two diseases are separate. In “false moult” the hawk casts newly grown feathers, and, as it were, recommences a second moult before she is out of the first, and so on. This disease is well known to Indian falconers, but no case has come under my direct notice. In “feather-canker,” or in one form of it, the hawk moults well and clean, but when flying to the lure one of its flight-feathers will make a whirring sound as though not set in the wing at the proper angle. In a few days this feather will break off at, or in, the flesh, and there will probably be a trace of blood. One by one every flight-feather will break off in this manner. In the only case I have seen, the hawk, a saker, had moulted perfectly and was apparently in the best of health. The disease attacked both wings and she lost every one of her flight-feathers.
[704]Par-k͟huraorpar-k͟huragī, P.;qārishqaappears to be the Turkish name of the disease.
[704]Par-k͟huraorpar-k͟huragī, P.;qārishqaappears to be the Turkish name of the disease.
[705]Daʿu´l-qaml,lit.“disease of lice.” By this term the author probably refers to some parasite other than the louse,i.e., other than the common louse.
[705]Daʿu´l-qaml,lit.“disease of lice.” By this term the author probably refers to some parasite other than the louse,i.e., other than the common louse.
[706]Flight-feathers that are pulled out never grow again; tail-featherssometimesdo;videpage 177, note752.
[706]Flight-feathers that are pulled out never grow again; tail-featherssometimesdo;videpage 177, note752.
[707]Būqa.
[707]Būqa.
[708]Qaml, Ar.
[708]Qaml, Ar.
[709]Rashmīz, either white-ant or weevil.
[709]Rashmīz, either white-ant or weevil.
[710]Būra-yi Armanī, crude carbonate of soda.
[710]Būra-yi Armanī, crude carbonate of soda.
[711]i.e., Socotrinæ aloes, which are yellow.
[711]i.e., Socotrinæ aloes, which are yellow.
[712]Dār filfil, “Piper Longum.”
[712]Dār filfil, “Piper Longum.”
[713]Dānak-i, a pea-grain in weight.
[713]Dānak-i, a pea-grain in weight.
[714]The author seems to have confused “false moult” with “feather-canker,” but the two diseases are separate. In “false moult” the hawk casts newly grown feathers, and, as it were, recommences a second moult before she is out of the first, and so on. This disease is well known to Indian falconers, but no case has come under my direct notice. In “feather-canker,” or in one form of it, the hawk moults well and clean, but when flying to the lure one of its flight-feathers will make a whirring sound as though not set in the wing at the proper angle. In a few days this feather will break off at, or in, the flesh, and there will probably be a trace of blood. One by one every flight-feather will break off in this manner. In the only case I have seen, the hawk, a saker, had moulted perfectly and was apparently in the best of health. The disease attacked both wings and she lost every one of her flight-feathers.
[714]The author seems to have confused “false moult” with “feather-canker,” but the two diseases are separate. In “false moult” the hawk casts newly grown feathers, and, as it were, recommences a second moult before she is out of the first, and so on. This disease is well known to Indian falconers, but no case has come under my direct notice. In “feather-canker,” or in one form of it, the hawk moults well and clean, but when flying to the lure one of its flight-feathers will make a whirring sound as though not set in the wing at the proper angle. In a few days this feather will break off at, or in, the flesh, and there will probably be a trace of blood. One by one every flight-feather will break off in this manner. In the only case I have seen, the hawk, a saker, had moulted perfectly and was apparently in the best of health. The disease attacked both wings and she lost every one of her flight-feathers.