Kevin Huff, age 12, of Monroe, La., for his question:
WHEN DID FALCONRY ORIGINATE?
Falconry is the training of falcons or hawks to capture wild game or fowl for the hunter, and also the sport of hunting with these trained birds of prey. The sport is also known as hawking.
Falconry was practiced in China before 2000 B.C. and in Japan, India, Persia and other Asian countries as early as 600 B.C. Falconry is also the subject of some of the oldest Egyptian wall paintings so we know the ancient people of Egypt also practiced the sport.
The Romans introduced falconry into parts of Europe conquered by them, and from the European continent the sport was introduced to England in the second half of the 9th Century A.D.
After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, falconry was extremely popular with English royalty and nobility. In those days, the type of hawk or falcon an Englishman carried on his wrist when he went hawking marked his rank. The king always carried the gyrfalcon (CQ), which was considered to be the most outstanding bird. An earl carried the peregrine, a yeoman the goshawk (CQ), a priest the sparrow hawk and a servant carried the kestrel (CQ).
The sport remained highly popular in England until the first half of the 17th Century, when interest in it began to decline. It revived during the Restoration, beginning in 1660, but then falconry again declined in the first part of the 18th Century, when the sport of shooting birds on the wing became popular.
In recent times falconry has again become popular in Great Britain. It is also popular in Latin America and has enthusiasts in both the United States and Canada.
In modern falconry two types of hawks are used: the long winged or dark eyed hawks and the short winged or yellow eyed hawks. Various types of hawks are used to hunt different kinds of quarry. The male of the peregrine is used for partridges, gyrfalcons for heron and goshawks for rabbit, hare and pheasant and other wild fowl.
Hawking may be practiced by individuals or by groups and either on foot or on horseback. When several hawks are to be carried to the field, the birds are hooded so they will not fly at anything they see before the quarry is flushed or started. They are carried by attendants in a cadge (CQ), which is a frame of wood with four legs, carried by means of straps passed over the shoulders of the bearer. The bearers are knows as cadgers.
Dogs, such as pointers and small greyhounds, are often used to flush birds or to start game.
The falconer must use a heavy gauntlet for the left or hawk hand and sometimes a protective mask.
In size, falcons range from six to 24 inches. The female is larger than the male, as is true of all diurnal birds of prey. The nesting habits of falcons in the wild vary but are for the most part haphazard. They may build loose nests in trees or lay four or five eggs on a bare ledge on a rocky cliff. Eggs ranging in color for various species from white to reddish brown.